The Efficiency of Public Hospitals in China: The Influence of Geographic Location and Government Ownership Level

China continues to struggle to provide cost-efficient care to its population. Using a sample of 181 hospitals, this study assessed the efficiency of China's public hospitals by both geographic region and level of government ownership. The study found that there is an uneven distribution of medical resources and the associated uneven distribution of patients among different regions. China's middle region had a significantly lower efficiency than hospitals in China's eastern and western regions. In addition, while province-owned hospitals consumed the most resources, they also operated more efficiently compared to hospitals owned by city and county government.