Evaluating the Relationship between Productivity and Quality in Emergency Departments

Table 1

Inputs and outputs of DEA models.

	Variables	Definition
Inputs (x)	BED	Number of licensed beds contained within the ED including triage rooms
	DOC	Scheduled number of work hours per day of physicians (this does not include work hours of middle-level practitioners and residents)
	RN	Scheduled number of work hours per day of registered nurses
	TECH	Scheduled number of work hours per day of technicians
Outputs (y)	LWBS	The ratio of the annual number of patients who leave prior to completion of treatment to the annual number of patients whose visits are registered by the ED (%)
	PCI	Percent of heart attack patients who are given percutaneous coronary intervention within 90 minutes of arrival (%)
	PAIN	Time patients who came to the ED with broken bones had to wait before receiving patient medication
	PPD	Sum of patients who present to the ED for service and are registered by the institution for one calendar year divided by the number of days in the year