Quality Evaluation of Health Care Establishment Utilizing Fuzzy AHP

Abstract

Quality evaluation of healthcare establishment (HCE) is a difficult process as it involves multiple components of quality criteria with various factors and sub-factors therein. Further, the quality criteria are not universally standardized. The subjective evaluation in itself is not reliable as a tool so that available HCEs may be investigated for selecting the best among them. Thus, to avoid vagueness and imprecision due to process of human cognition the need to evolve a useful method for evaluation of quality of HCE was essentially required. To achieve such an objective three well established HCEs from northern cities of India have been studied. An Integrated Quality Model designed for HCE (Azam et al., 2012a, 2012b) and specifically tested previously with the AHP study by the authors (Azam et al., 2015) with its components, parameters and factors sub-factors has been utilized to evaluate the quality aspects of HCEs forming subjects of the current study. Further, the standard formula of Fuzzy AHP methodology with the application of fuzzy set theory was applied to the multiple components of the quality criteria with various factors and sub-factors therein pertaining to various HCEs forming the subject of the study. Quality of the HCEs thus could be evaluated empirically avoiding vagueness due to human cognition factors. Utilizing this methodology respective rankings of HCEs could also be assigned among them with practical utility to maintain the required quality of their services. Quality evaluation of Health Care Establishment utilizing Fuzzy AHP along with fuzzy set theory is a unique method which will benefit the client patients to select the best HCE among the available alternatives of HCEs. It also helps the managers to improve the business by allocating scarce resources wherever critically required to improve various quality components criteria factors and sub-factors of their HCEs.