Projecting the target quantity of medical staff in Taiwan’s administrative regions by the theory of carrying capacity

Jin Li Hu*, Ming Chung Chang, Hsin Jung Chung

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

As physicians and nurses are the main medical staff in any healthcare system, an appropriate medical workforce distribution is crucial for an aging society. This study thus applies the theory of carrying capacity and the given demand side to explore the carrying capacity, carrying efficiency, and potential adjustment ratio of medical staff in Taiwan’s administrative regions by using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach in which a lower carrying efficiency implies a higher shortage ratio. The main findings are as follows. (i) The carrying efficiency of Taiwan’s medical staff is weakening year by year, while the carrying efficiency of the country’s nurses is lower than that of physicians. (ii) The outlying islands of Taiwan have a more serious shortage of physicians and nurses than the main island. (iii) The central government should encourage more physicians and nurses to work in regions with a low carrying efficiency.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2998
Pages (from-to)1-16
Number of pages16
JournalInternational journal of environmental research and public health
Volume17
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 May 2020

Keywords

  • Carrying capacity
  • Carrying efficiency
  • Data envelopment analysis

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