Operationalizing Sustainability in Ayurvedic Hospitals: A DEA-based Service Delivery Framework

Abstract

Ayurvedic hospitals face a unique operational challenge: delivering highly personalised constitution-based care while ensuring efficiency, sustainability and scalability. Traditional process variability often leads to resource inefficiencies and limits the ability to benchmark performance. This study proposes a sustainable service delivery framework that strategically integrates operations management principles with Ayurvedic clinical practices. Using a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach, the study evaluates the operational efficiency of multiple Ayurvedic hospitals, while Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) examines the relationships between process standardization, personalized care, operational efficiency, sustainability performance and patient satisfaction. Results indicate that standardizing non-clinical processes significantly enhances efficiency and sustainability outcomes without compromising personalized treatment, while personalized care remains a strong predictor of patient satisfaction. The study provides a data-driven blue-print for designing scalable, efficient and environmentally sustainable Ayurvedic healthcare services, bridging traditional practices with modern operational insights. These findings offer valuable guidance for hospital administrators, policymakers and researchers seeking to integrate traditional medicine into mainstream sustainable healthcare systems.