A Comparative Study of Patient Triage Systems: Towards a Generic and Adaptable Model for Process Standardization

The continuous growth of the world’s population and extending life expectancy, as well as frequent natural disasters and emergencies, increase the demand for health services every day. One of the crucial elements for addressing this problem is triage – a critical process that enables healthcare providers to efficiently identify patients’ needs in terms of medical treatments and resources. However, the complexity of implementing an appropriate triage process has led to the development of various systems, each offering a unique approach to address this challenge.This paper presents a comparative analysis of different patient triage systems, focusing on their key characteristics, identifying their common and unique elements, and providing an understanding of their advantages and limitations. Relying on the findings of the conducted analysis, the paper proposes a generic model of the triage process, designed around universal components that provide a foundation for standardizing the process while maintaining the flexibility to adapt to specific requirements. The proposed generic model further can be employed as a basis for exploring opportunities to enhance the patient triage process through the application of model-driven engineering concepts and techniques.