OBJECTIVES: To reflect the economic operation of public hospitals scientifically, a comprehensive evaluation index system was formulated to provide effective support for policy formulation, monitoring and evaluation of policy implementation.

METHODS: Referred to the framework of hospital financial analysis, Delphi method was used, over 20 experts were selected to carry out two rounds of consultation, the index system was constructed according to the expert authority and scoring results, and each index was weighted by Analytic Hierarchy Process. The availability and credibility of the indexes were further demonstrated through interviews with insiders, and data from two sample institutions from 2016 to 2018 were selected for empirical analysis.

RESULTS: According to the results of two rounds of expert consultation, the comprehensive evaluation index system for the economic operation of public hospitals was constructed from six dimensions of budget management, risk management, cost management, operation efficiency, public welfare and development ability, including 6 first-level indexes and 34 second-level indexes. Empirical analysis confirms the applicability of the index system, which showed the sample general hospital had the best economic performance in 2017, followed by 2016, and the lowest score in 2018; the sample specialized hospital had the highest score in 2016, followed by 2018, and a relatively low score in 2017.

CONCLUSIONS: The index system can be used for comprehensive evaluation of economic operation of public hospitals in China, which can promote strengthening economic management in public hospitals, and provide evidence for the government to assess the performance of policy implementation.