An Integrated Approach Based On Balanced Scorecard And Analytic Hierarchy Process For Strategic Evaluation Of Local Healthcare Agencies

Governments of the developed countries are facing with both growing healthcare (HC) costs and reducing public covering of expenses. In order to assure a fair service level to the population under reasonable costs, methodologica l approaches in the management of healthcare system (HCS) are needed. Methods and techniques applied in the industria l context can be successfully adopted in healthcare (HC) services to investigate the relationship between process performances and the related costs. In scientific literature many studies are available concerning applications in the management of s ingle units of Local Healthcare Agency (LHA). However, there is a lack of results referring to the evaluation of the globa l performance. The authors suggest an integrated approach based on Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) aiming at support public decis ion makers in identifying the set of performance indicators more consistent with the strategic objectives of the LHA management. A full-scale case study, concerning the LHA of Brindis i, located in the south of Ita ly, is presented.