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Presentation
Developing a Correction Factor to Modify the FAHP and Utility Theory based Triage Algorithm
IIE Annual Conference (2011)
  • Omar M. Ashour, The Pennsylvania State University
  • Gül E. Kremer, Iowa State University
Abstract
Triage is a pre-hospital decision making process which involves assigning a priority level for coming patients to
emergency departments (EDs). The accuracy of assessing patient acuity and the prioritization of patient flow are the central issues in triage process. Inaccurate and/or inefficient triage might affect the patient safety and/or waiting times (e.g., increasing waiting time for patients with critical status or decreasing it for non-urgent patient). In order to improve the decision making in healthcare systems, many researchers have implemented different tools and models from various fields. In a previous study, we used the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) and utility theory to rank patients based on the following attributes: chief complaint, vital signs, age, gender, and pain level. In this paper, a modification for the FAHP and utility theory model has been proposed. The modification involves developing of a correction factor that adjusts the priority of the patient based on the estimated average length of time the patient remains urgent when he becomes urgent given his chief complaint. The average length of time will be estimated based on the patient’s status sample path. A hypothetical example is used to illustrate the proposed method.
Keywords
  • Emergency Severity Index (ESI);,
  • Age,
  • Gender,
  • Pain-level,
  • Triage,
  • Sample Path
Disciplines
Publication Date
2011
Comments
This is a proceeding published as Ashour, Omar M., and Gül E. Okudan. "Developing a Correction Factor to Modify the FAHP and Utility Theory based Triage Algorithm." In IIE Annual Conference. Proceedings, p. 1. Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE), 2011. Posted with permission.
Citation Information
Omar M. Ashour and Gül E. Kremer. "Developing a Correction Factor to Modify the FAHP and Utility Theory based Triage Algorithm" IIE Annual Conference (2011)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/gul-kremer/143/