MULTI-CRITERIA MODEL FOR CLASSIFICATION AND PRIORITIZATION IN THE ADMISSION OF PATIENTS WITH MENTAL DISORDERS: CASE STUDY IN A PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL IN THE STATE OF RIO GRANDE DO NORTE
Psychiatric bed regulation. Multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA). Patient classification. FITradeoff.
This research proposes the development of a multicriteria decision-making (MCDA) model to optimize the regulation process of psychiatric beds in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. The objective is to classify patients into three priority groups (urgent, priority, and non-priority), making the decision-making process less repetitive and exhausting for the regulator. The research was structured into three stages: planning, modeling, and analysis. The Value Focused Thinking (VFT) method was applied to structure the problem. Preliminary results pointed to five established criteria — heteroaggressiveness, degree of assistance, clinical stability, suicide ideation or attempt and special population — with patients being the alternatives evaluated. Considering the decision-maker’s preferences, the FITradeoff classification method was chosen, as it reduces cognitive effort and fits the studied context. In the end, the model is expected to make the decision-making process more efficient and less burdensome for regulators.