Efficiency Analysis of Basic Health Units: A Comparison of Developed and Deprived Regions in Azad Jammu and Kashmir

BACKGROUND: The current study aims to measure the efficiency of primary health care units completed in health sector of rural Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and to compare it across developed and deprived regions. METHODS: Operational efficiency and beneficiary efficiency of a total of 32 Basic Health Units (BHUs) were measured through Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) by using different input and output variables. Independent sample T-test was applied to compare these efficiencies across developed and deprived regions. RESULTS: The study could find no significant difference of operational efficiency across developed and deprived regions, however a significant difference was found across regions from beneficiary perspective (P= 0.044). CONCLUSION: The study concludes that BHUs of deprived region are more efficient from beneficiary perspective, however there is no significant difference of operational efficiency across the regions.