A Fuzzy Hybrid MCDM Approach for Assessing the Emergency Department Performance during the COVID-19 Outbreak

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Ortíz-Barrios M., Jaramillo-Rueda N., GÜL M., Yucesan M., Jiménez-Delgado G., Alfaro-Saíz J.

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, cilt.20, sa.5, 2023 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 20 Sayı: 5
  • Basım Tarihi: 2023
  • Doi Numarası: 10.3390/ijerph20054591
  • Dergi Adı: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Aqualine, Aquatic Science & Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA), CAB Abstracts, EMBASE, Food Science & Technology Abstracts, Geobase, MEDLINE, Pollution Abstracts, Veterinary Science Database, Directory of Open Access Journals
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: combined compromise solution (CoCoSo), emergency departments (EDs), intuitionistic fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (IF-AHP), intuitionistic fuzzy decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (IF-DEMATEL), performance evaluation
  • İstanbul Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

The use of emergency departments (EDs) has increased during the COVID-19 outbreak, thereby evidencing the key role of these units in the overall response of healthcare systems to the current pandemic scenario. Nevertheless, several disruptions have emerged in the practical scenario including low throughput, overcrowding, and extended waiting times. Therefore, there is a need to develop strategies for upgrading the response of these units against the current pandemic. Given the above, this paper presents a hybrid fuzzy multicriteria decision-making model (MCDM) to evaluate the performance of EDs and create focused improvement interventions. First, the intuitionistic fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (IF-AHP) technique is used to estimate the relative priorities of criteria and sub-criteria considering uncertainty. Then, the intuitionistic fuzzy decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (IF-DEMATEL) is employed to calculate the interdependence and feedback between criteria and sub-criteria under uncertainty, Finally, the combined compromise solution (CoCoSo) is implemented to rank the EDs and detect their weaknesses to device suitable improvement plans. The aforementioned methodology was validated in three emergency centers in Turkey. The results revealed that the most important criterion in ED performance was ER facilities (14.4%), while Procedures and protocols evidenced the highest positive D + R value (18.239) among the dispatchers and is therefore deemed as the main generator within the performance network.