Abstract
This research aimed to formulate and develop the labor price index (LPI) for physicians in Thailand in both public and private health service sectors. LPI was developed and used extensively in the US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada to enable the monitoring of labor cost in the healthcare market and planning wage policies in public and private sectors. However, LPI is new and has not been comprehensively studied and developed in Thailand. Physician compensation in this study included salaries and benefit or welfare. The total physician compensation in public and private hospitals was estimated from the annual budget and the survey by the National Statistical Office (NSO). The weight was calculated by the ratio of share for labor expenditure in a base year. The LPIs of 2008 to 2011 were calculated. The Laspeyres LPI was used in this study, and LPI of 2010 was defined as the base year. It was found that between 2008 and 2011, the average of physician compensation in private hospitals was higher than public hospitals. On the contrary, the average growth rate of physician compensation in public hospitals was higher than private hospitals. The results showed that the LPI of public hospitals increased approximately 1.5-1.6% annually while the LPI of private hospitals declined approximately 1.4-1.5%. This study recommended that surveys to represent physician populations should be undertaken. Moreover, LPIs for other professional groups such as nurses, dentists, pharmacists, other medical workers working at back offices should also be studied.
