Analytic hierarchy process as a tool for group evaluation of healthcare equipment

Abstract

The use of healthcare technology, which effectively assists in diagnosing diseases, significantly increases comfort and satisfaction of the patients. Prices increase with rising quality and offered possibilities. Since purchase of any equipment in healthcare is a significant expense, especially for a private surgery, it is necessary to carefully consider the advantages and disadvantages of each decision. The aim of this study is to evaluate healthcare equipment in electrocardiography, when the result is determined by a group of decision makers. To obtain individual decisions we applied the AHP to the views of any decision makers. Subsequently these decisions are aggregated into one group vector with the assistance of the AMM and WAMM. The WAMM, uses the view significance of each decision maker during the process of aggregating weights. This study also contains an overview of the past AHP applications in the healthcare and health technology assessment from other authors.