Abstract

VALERA ORDONEZ, Euler Stewar. HEALTH EFFICIENCY AND CORRUPTION: EVALUATION OF THE CAUSAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EMBEZZLEMENT AND MEDICAL CARE. Aula Virtual [online]. 2025, vol.6, n.13, e467.  Epub July 24, 2025. ISSN 2665-0398.  https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15823040.

Embezzlement in the health sector represents a critical problem that affects the quality of care and patient satisfaction. This phenomenon is relevant to research, given that corruption not only diverts essential resources from medical care but also undermines users' trust in the health system. The objective of this article is to evaluate the causal relationship between the crime of embezzlement and indicators of health service effectiveness, such as quality of care and patient satisfaction, through a systematic review of previous studies. To this end, a systematic review was conducted using the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) method, compiling and analyzing the evidence available in the scientific literature. The results show that, in regions with higher levels of embezzlement, the quality of care and patient satisfaction decrease significantly, with lack of resources and inefficient management being determining factors. The conclusions suggest that addressing corruption in the health sector is critical to improving the effectiveness of services and restoring patient trust in medical care. This research also highlights the need to implement effective public policies and rigorous auditing systems that guarantee transparency in the management of health resources.

Keywords : Embezzlement; quality of care; patient satisfaction; health services; corruption.

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