Assessment of a brazilian public hospital’s performance for management purposes: a soft operations research case in action

Abstract

Brazil’s public health management system has undergone substantial restructuring over the past decade. One of the consequences of this restructuring is the establishment of a new relationship between the Ministry of Health (MS) and the Ministry of Education (MEC) regarding the funding of Federal University Hospitals. The Brazilian Ministry of Health has implemented a certification process for the University Hospitals that requires meeting a set of financial, managerial, and educational processes related goals, and adoption of an assistance model. This article uses the MultiCriteria Decision Aid (MCDA) approach to support the development of a model that can help the university hospitals’ managers assess their institutional performance to meet their joint goals with the MS/MEC and obtain the certification. This case study was conducted at a hospital within the Brazilian federal education network.