Awards for Excellence

Citation

(2007), "Awards for Excellence", Benchmarking: An International Journal, Vol. 14 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/bij.2007.13114faa.001

Awards for Excellence

Awards for Excellence

Outstanding Paper Award Benchmarking: An International Journal

"Identifying and studying best-performing services: an application of DEA to long-term care"

Jo Ann M. DuffyDepartment of Management and Marketing, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas, USA

James A. FitzsimmonsDepartment of Management, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA, and

Nikhil Jaini2 Technologies Corporation, Dallas, Texas, USA

Purpose – One of the fastest growing service industries is long-term care. Identifying the best performers in the industry in terms of service productivity is difficult because there is no single summary measure of outcomes, particularly quality outcomes. The purpose of the paper is to show the potential of data envelopment analysis (DEA) as a benchmarking method in long-term care. Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides background information on the long-term care industry and describes the DEA methodology and applications to long-term care. Data originated from two data sources with four databases furnishing information on 69 long-term care facilities used. Findings – In the hypotheses tested, it was found that most of the models showed that for profit nursing homes were significantly more efficient than non-profit. The exception was in the model that included the condition of patients as a co-production input and then there was no significant difference in efficient performance between ownership types. Originality/value – The paper shows the value of DEA as a method of benchmarking in the context of long-term care.Keywords Data analysis, Long-term care, Nursing homes, Performance measurement (quality), Service deliverywww.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/14635770610668767This article originally appeared in Vol. 13 No. 3, 2006, pp. 232-51, of Benchmarking: An International Journal; Editor: A. Gunasekaran

Highly Commended Papers

Benchmarking: An International JournalBenchmarking customer service on the internet: best practices from family businessesNancy M. LevenburgVol. 13 No. 3, 2006Performance measures in English small and medium enterprises: survey resultsSérgio D. Sousa, Elaine M. Aspinwall, A. Guimares RodriguesVol. 13 Nos 1/2, 2006Achieving internal process benchmarking: guidance from BASFMario Binder, Ben Clegg, Wolfgang Egel-HessVol. 13 No. 6, 2006