Data envelopment analysis on work income and efficiency of rural doctors in Sichuan province

Objective To examine work income and efficiency of rural doctors in Sichuan province and to provide evidences for increasing remuneration of the rural doctors Methods A face-to-face questionnaire survey was conducted among 183 rural doctors selected with stratified cluster random sampling and data envelopment analysis was adopted in the study.Results Among the rural doctors,the average individual income from medical service per year was 37 946.1 Yuan(RMB),with a great difference in the individual income between the highest and lowest annual income(300 000.0 Yuan vs.4 900.0 Yuan); there were 37.9% of the rural doctors had an annual work income higher than that of the average level.The results of data envelopment analysis showed that for the 183 decision-making units,only 44 had a work efficiency value of 1,with a combined work efficiency rate of 24.0%; the combined work efficiency rates for the doctors in the three areas with different economic status were 28.3%,22.5%,and 20.0%,respectively.Conclusion There are great individual and obvious regional differences in the work income of rural doctors in Sichuan province; the funding for rural health service is not utilized efficiently and working enthusiasm of rural doctors needs to be improved.