EFFICIENCY OF HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS IN CZECH REPUBLIC AND SLOVAKIA AFTER THE DISSOLUTION OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA

The dissolution of Czechoslovakia, which took effect on January 1, 1993, split Czechoslovakia into two independent countries - the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Thenceforth the Czech and Slovak healthcare systems have undergone major and important changes which were expected to have a positive effect on healthcare outcomes of the population. Our goal is to analyse the change of the efficiency of healthcare systems in the Czech Republic and Slovakia after the dissolution relatively to other European countries. For this purpose we apply Data Envelopment Analysis to calculate efficiency scores and Malmquist productivity indices for the period 1995-2012. The total health expenditure is considered as input, while the number of infant death, life expectancy at birth, and the final consumption expenditure (FCE) are considered as outputs. Standard decomposition of Malmquist index into frontier shift and catching up effect gives a deeper insight into the issue. Finally, we relate the results of efficiency analysis with the health reforms carried out in both countries.