Elective surgery prioritization criteria and tools: A literature review

Improving healthcare quality for patients undergoing elective surgery primarily consists of reducing waiting times to guarantee fairness and transparency. Studies on elective patient prioritization have led to the development of effective prioritization criteria and widely applicable tools. These ongoing efforts are increasingly being applied within various healthcare systems around the world. Presenting a literature review of criteria and tools for prioritizing patients in elective surgery is the aim of this article. Three databases were used to search for articles: Web of Science, PubMed and Scopus, using various keywords such as "prioritization," "elective care," "criteria," "tools," "models," and "waiting period." The search generated130 documents, of which 35 were selected. The findings demonstrate that prioritization criteria are diverse and generic. Prioritization tools use criteria by assigning weights to them. However, these tools are static and do not take into account variations in patient health while waiting for surgery. As a research perspective, we recommend the development of prioritization tools specific to patient types and pathologies, and also the inclusion of the dynamic dimension to consider changes in patients’ health during the waiting period.