Predictive Efficiency Analysis : A Study of U.S. Hospitals

Workshop 2015 -Advances in DEA Theory and Applications (December 1-2, 2015)Healthcare costs are higher in the U.S. then anywhere else in the world. A significant portion of the costs are generated in hospitals. We investigate both the efficiency and the effectiveness of U.S. community hospitals using the Agency for healthcare Research and Quality’s Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project 2009-2011 Nationwide Inpatient Sample, a data set which contains all discharges from an approximate 20% sample of hospitals. Here efficiency is the productivity of the hospital measured relative to the most productive hospitals and effectiveness is how closely the hospital produced relative to the forecasted services needed. We find the effectiveness levels are slightly higher than the efficiency levels in both 2010 and 2011 indicating that hospitals are producing closer to the forecasted level than the actual service level needed. Further, both efficiency and effectiveness levels are low indicating a large variability in the level of resources hospitals use to provide the same set of services. The low effectiveness scores indicate that many hospitals have a high level of resources even relative to the forecasted demand providing some evidence for a medical arms race.The workshop is supported by JSPS (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science), Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B), #25282090, titled “Studies in Theory and Applications of DEA for Forecasting Purpose.本研究はJSPS科研費 基盤研究(B) 25282090の助成を受けたものです

Demand Effects in Productivity and Efficiency Analysis

Demand fluctuations will bias the measurement of productivity and efficiency. This dissertation described three ways to characterize the effect of demand fluctuations. First, a two-dimensional efficiency decomposition (2DED) of profitability is proposed for manufacturing, service, or hybrid production systems to account for the demand effect. The first dimension identifies four components of efficiency: capacity design, demand generation, operations, and demand consumption, using Network Data Envelopment Analysis (Network DEA). The second dimension decomposes the efficiency measures and integrates them into a profitability efficiency framework. Thus, each component's profitability change can be analyzed based on technical efficiency change, scale efficiency change and allocative efficiency change. Second, this study proposes a proactive DEA model to account for demand fluctuations and proposes input or output adjustments to maximize effective production. Demand fluctuations lead to variations in the output levels affecting measures of technical efficiency. In the short-run, firms can adjust their variable resources to address the demand fluctuates and perform more efficiently. Proactive DEA is a short-run capacity planning method, proposed to provide decision support to a firm interested in improving the effectiveness of a production system under demand uncertainty using a stochastic programming DEA (SPDEA) approach. This method improves the decision making related to short-run capacity expansion and estimates the expected value of effectiveness given demand. In the third part of the dissertation, a Nash-Cournot equilibrium is identified for an oligopolistic market. The standard assumption in the efficiency literature that firms desire to produce on the production frontier may not hold in an oligopolistic market where the production decisions of all firms will determine the market price, i.e. an increase in a firm's output level leads to a lower market clearing price and potentially-lower profits. Models for both the production possibility set and the inverse demand function are used to identify a Nash-Cournot equilibrium and improvement targets which may not be on the strongly efficient production frontier. This behavior is referred to as rational inefficiency because the firm reduces its productivity levels in order to increase profits

Wireless Remote Weather Monitoring System Based on MEMS Technologies

This study proposes a wireless remote weather monitoring system based on Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and wireless sensor network (WSN) technologies comprising sensors for the measurement of temperature, humidity, pressure, wind speed and direction, integrated on a single chip. The sensing signals are transmitted between the Octopus II-A sensor nodes using WSN technology, following amplification and analog/digital conversion (ADC). Experimental results show that the resistance of the micro temperature sensor increases linearly with input temperature, with an average TCR (temperature coefficient of resistance) value of 8.2 × 10−4 (°C−1). The resistance of the pressure sensor also increases linearly with air pressure, with an average sensitivity value of 3.5 × 10−2 (Ω/kPa). The sensitivity to humidity increases with ambient temperature due to the effect of temperature on the dielectric constant, which was determined to be 16.9, 21.4, 27.0, and 38.2 (pF/%RH) at 27 °C, 30 °C, 40 °C, and 50 °C, respectively. The velocity of airflow is obtained by summing the variations in resistor response as airflow passed over the sensors providing sensitivity of 4.2 × 10−2, 9.2 × 10−2, 9.7 × 10−2 (Ω/ms−1) with power consumption by the heating resistor of 0.2, 0.3, and 0.5 W, respectively. The passage of air across the surface of the flow sensors prompts variations in temperature among each of the sensing resistors. Evaluating these variations in resistance caused by the temperature change enables the measurement of wind direction

THE EFFECTS OF KINESIO TAPING ON MUSCULAR ENDURANCE OF DEEP NECK FLEXORS FOR SUBJECTS WITH FORWARD HEAD POSTURE?A PILOT STUDY

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Kinesio taping on head posture and muscular endurance of deep neck flexors for subjects with forward head posture. The subjects were two males (mean age 19.0 ± 1.4 years, mean body height 172.0 ± 5.6 cm, mean body weight 72.0 ± 18.3 kg) and three females (mean age 19.7 ± 2.0 years, mean body height 162.0± 2.0 cm, mean body weight 55.3 ± 6.6 kg) who agreed to participate in this study. The forward head posture was measured by postural assessment system, meanwhile the muscular endurance of deep neck flexors was measured by using the neck strength measure instrument while two taping methods applied to the subjects. The placebo taping method resulted in more improvement on neck flexor muscles endurance and head posture than traditional taping method. Placebo taping method may be better than the traditional taping method for correcting forward head posture and improving muscular endurance of deep neck flexors

The influence of innovative characteristics, work readiness, and vocational self-concept on employability of vocational college students

Purpose: Vocational education and training is important to produce skilled and innovative labor to drive the country\u27s development in the 4th industrial revolution (IR 4.0). The employability of vocational college students is crucial to meet the country\u27s demand for 21st-century workers. This study aims to identify the influences of innovative characteristics, work readiness, and vocational self-concept on the employability of vocational college students. The study also examined the moderating role of gender. Methods: A quantitative correlational design was carried out to achieve the objectives of the study. The samples consisted of 395 vocational college students from five vocational colleges located in the states of Kedah and Penang, Malaysia. Data were collected through online questionnaire survey, which is made up of four instruments: Youth Innovation Skills Measurement Tool, the Work Readiness Scale, the Vocational Rational Scale and the Perceived Future Employability Scale. The validity and reliability of these instruments were well established. Descriptive and structural equation modelling (SEM) analyses were carried out. Findings: Innovative characteristics (β = 0.252, t = 5.041, p < 0.001), vocational self-concept (β = 0.386, t = 7.131, p < 0.001) and work readiness (β = 0.219, t = 3.787, p < 0.001) had significant effects on employability of vocational college students. The model explained 53% of the variance in employability. Gender, however, did not moderate any of the three direct significant relationships. Conclusion: This study found that innovative characteristics, work readiness, and vocational self-concept are factors that should be taken into consideration when developing education and career programs, interventions, and support services for vocational students. The graduate employment issues faced by vocational college students can be overcome if factors identified in this study can be enhanced. Similar approaches can be applied for both male and female students since gender is not a significant moderator. Overall, this study sheds light on the employability of vocational graduates and contributes towards improving career guidance and counseling practices for vocational students. (DIPF/Orig.