An estimation of the costs and efficiency of public health care facilities in Nairobi, Kenya
Abstract
This study estimated the costs and efficiency of selected public health facilities in the
provision of outpatient care in the city of Nairobi during the years 1999 and 2000. Both
Secondary and primary data were used. The combinations of purposive and judgmental
sampling procedures were used to collect data, while the stochastic frontier model
provided the framework for our analysis.
generally, the estimated results strongly indicated that the number of outpatient visits and
costs of labour and drugs were important determinants of the costs and efficiency of
public health facilities in Nairobi. On average, the study revealed an average of about
6.6% level of inefficiency within the facilities. This was particularly attributed to limited
funding, shortages of medical and non-medical staff, and lack of appropriate drug
distribution and management/dispensation practices among others. The results further
showed that the health facilities operated with declining average costs and increasing
returns to variable factor inputs.
The most notable implication of these findings to policy is that, in the short run, increased
coverage and access to outpatient health care services in Nairobi can be achieved at
relatively lower incremental costs. These and other results were -used to make
recommendations.
Citation
Masters thesis, University of Nairobi (2001)Publisher
University of Nairobi Department of of Economics
Description
Research paper submitted to the Department of Economics, University of Nairobi, in partial fulfillment to the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Economics