Using a Modified VIKOR Technique for Evaluating and Improving the National Healthcare System Quality

Abstract

The effectiveness of the national/regional healthcare system is one of the keys to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In the face of this unknown pandemic, where the healthcare system should continue to be promoted and improved are crucial decision issues. In the past, most studies have used the subjective opinions of experts for analysis and decision-making processes when investigating complicated decision-making problems. However, such decision-making processes are easily influenced by experts’ preferences. Therefore, this research proposes a soft computing technology that integrates CRiteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation (CRITIC) with the modified VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje in Serbian, meaning multicriteria optimization and compromise solution (modified VIKOR) technique to reduce the impact of expert preference. In order to cope with the fact that COVID-19 has spread globally and to discover problems quickly and effectively, this study uses the global health security (GHS) index as the evaluation framework and conducts overall discussions in 195 countries/regions around the world. It is verified that the technology of soft computing can be used for continuous promotion and improvement of the national/regional healthcare system. This technology facilitates decision makers to know the gap of performance between the current healthcare system and the aspiration level. Finally, based on these gaps, we provide management advice to help improve these systems.

Efficiency measurement and spatial spillover effect of provincial health systems in China: Based on the two-stage network DEA model

“…Health system efficiency is an important indicator of how well a health system is functioning ( 3 ). Although a comprehensive estimation of such efficiency is a complex task ( 4 ), it can effectively measure the allocation of health resources and the level of residents' health output. Currently, most studies use parametric and non-parametric methods to evaluate health system efficiency.…”

Knowledge Mapping of Multicriteria Decision Analysis in Healthcare: A Bibliometric Analysis

“…It is universally known that COVID-19 broke out at the end of 2019 and remains a threat to global health. As one of the most recent research hotspots, the application of MCDA to COVID-19 mainly involves the following aspects: healthcare waste management ( 51 , 58 ), prioritization of hospital admission of patients ( 59 ), the assessment of intervention and care ( 60 , 61 ), selection of isolation hospital location ( 62 ), and evaluation of a national healthcare system ( 63 ). These studies exert impact on both decision-making and management of COVID-19, and this impact will likely continue in the next few years.…”

The impact of social welfare and COVID-19 stringency on the perceived utility of food apps: A hybrid MCDM approach

“…VIKOR was introduced by [ 61 ] and has recently been employed to evaluate the safety levels of 100 regions in the world in terms of COVID-19 [ 62 ]. This has made it feasible to prioritize COVID-19 patients in the context of individual and group decision making [ 63 ], thereby evaluating and improving healthcare system quality [ 64 ]. The present study employs VIKOR to assess the success of COVID-19 control at the country level.…”