Background: The Chinese government has been adapting to rapid changes in the domestic and international situation in order to formulate appropriate health policies. However, under the socioeconomic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, China’s medical and health resource allocation still has problems in terms of insufficiency and uneven distribution. Therefore, how to scientifically allocate and efficiently use medical and health resources has become an urgent issue.
Methods: The super-efficiency slack-based measure model and the global Malmquist model were used to measure the efficiency of medical and health resource allocation in 31 provinces in China from 2008 to 2020. Moran’s I was used to test the spatial correlation of the efficiency. A spatial Dubin model was constructed to analyze influencing factors. All data were collected from the China Health Statistics Yearbook and China Statistics Yearbook from 2008 to 2020.
Results: The efficiency of medical and health resource allocation calculated by the super-efficiency slack-based measure model showed that the average score was 0.632. The average Malmquist productivity index of the efficiency of medical and health resource allocation of 31 provinces in China from 2008 to 2020 was 1.0897, which was generally positive. The Moran’s I test results showed that the efficiency had a significant spatial positive correlation in the spatial distribution. The regression results of the spatial Dubin model showed that the efficiency was affected by the dependency ratio, the illiteracy rate, the per capita disposable income, the per capita public health budget expenditure, the number of medical insurance participants, and the balance of medical insurance fund revenue and expenditure.
Discussion: In view of the problems revealed in the efficiency of medical and health resource allocation from 2008 to 2020, Chinese provinces should fully consider the impacts of the dependency ratio, the illiteracy rate, the per capita disposable income, the per capita public health budget expenditure, the number of medical insurance participants, and the balance of medical insurance fund revenue and expenditure. Local governments should scientifically formulate their own health planning by giving full attention to the radiation outcomes of the spatial spillover effect on the efficiency of medical and health resource allocation.