title: [Efficiency of Brazilian States and the Federal District in the public kidney transplant system based on DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) and the Malmquist index].
abstract: The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of Brazilian States and the Federal District in the public kidney transplant system and their productivity trends from 2006 to 2011. The authors used Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) with slack and the Malmquist index with slack. Inputs included spending on hospital services and health professionals in the system. The output was the number of kidney transplants performed in each State. The data showed a significant discrepancy between States in the number of kidney transplants. The transplant system's inefficiency may result from inadequate management, failure to comply with national guidelines, inactive hospital transplant committees, and overburdened hospital staff. Institutional changes promoted by the Brazilian Ministry of Health (procedures improvement and standardization) failed to increase productivity in most States during this period.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Ensino Superior de Maringá, Maringá, Brasil.
authors.forename: Cassia Kely Favoretto
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brasil.
authors.forename: Giácomo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Balbinotto Neto
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brasil.
authors.forename: Luciano Menezes Bezerra
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Sampaio
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*