Technical efficiency analysis of primary care centers (urban and rural health centers of the country): a systematic review and meta-analysis

During the last decade, most of the countries of the world have faced an increase in the costs of the health and treatment sector. Efficient utilization of available resources through the implementation of resource allocation strategies and the improvement of health sector management is crucial and essential. Based on the extent of health and medical centers and the number of services provided by these centers, a considerable part of the community's health system resources is allocated to these centers, determining and continuously monitoring the efficiency of these centers can play a significant role in improving the efficiency of health resources and preventing the wastage of the country's resources. to have Therefore, the present study has been conducted for the first time in a systematic review with the aim of comparing the efficiency of the country's health centers to be a source of feedback to the relevant managers in this field.

In this research, a systematic review was conducted in databases using suitable keywords. 1035 articles were found and the reference list of the obtained articles was checked. Articles related to calculating the efficiency of health centers were reviewed. Finally, 8 articles met the conditions for entering the study and were analyzed.

The data envelopment analysis method has been used to evaluate the efficiency of health centers in the country. The efficiency of these centers has increased positively in the 90s com-pared to the late 70s and 80s. The urban center of Isfahan and the western bases of Tehran have the highest level of technical efficiency and their efficiency is reported to be over 80%.

It is essential for policymakers and healthcare managers to identify the factors contributing to the low efficiency of healthcare centers and implement strategies for enhancing their efficiency and ensuring the proper allocation of resources. Additionally, performance evaluation should be established to monitor the efficiency of Iran's healthcare system.