Determining Priority Hospitals for Maternity Referral Using the Analytical Hierarchy Process

Abstract

Selecting an appropriate maternity referral hospital is important to ensure that patients receive timely and suitable healthcare services. The availability of multiple hospital alternatives requires a systematic approach that can consider several criteria simultaneously. This study aims to determine the priority of maternity referral hospitals in Sidoarjo Regency as a consideration for midwives in Sukodono District when selecting referral destinations. This study applied the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to evaluate seven hospital alternatives based on five criteria: Quality of Medical Facilities, Quality of Medical Personnel, Quality of BPJS Services, Hospital Access, and Effectiveness of Service Time. Pairwise comparisons were used to determine the relative importance of the criteria and alternatives. Assessments involving multiple respondents were aggregated using the geometric mean method, followed by matrix normalization, Priority Vector calculation, consistency analysis, and synthesis of alternative priorities. Quality of Medical Facilities was the highest-priority criterion with a weight of 0.42, followed by Quality of Medical Personnel (0.26), Quality of BPJS Services (0.16), Hospital Access (0.10), and Effectiveness of Service Time (0.06). The final synthesis placed Siti Khodijah Hospital (A7) as the highest-priority alternative with a value of 19.12%, followed by Anwar Medika Hospital (A4) at 15.98% and Arafah Anwar Medika Sukodono Hospital (A1) at 15.51%. The AHP method provides a systematic approach for integrating multiple criteria and hospital alternatives in determining priorities for maternity referral destinations. The results can support midwives in considering suitable hospitals for maternity referrals.