Abstract:  For patients arriving in the Emergency Departments (EDs) of hospitals a key aspect is to classify patients and identify high-risk patients since they have the potential for rapid deterioration during the waiting time. Triage is a widely applied and well-known process of evaluating and categorizing patients’ condition, in EDs. On the other hand, EDs are frequently overcrowded, which  makes triage an extremely challenging and demanding process in order to ensure that patients stepping into the ED are given the appropriate medical attention in time. This paper discusses the introduction of a general decision making procedure based on Fuzzy Cognitive Maps so that to create a Medical Decision Support System for Post-Triage decisions. The case of non-emergent and non-urgent elderly patients is examined and the corresponding model is developed.

Keywords: Soft Computing; Medical Decision Support; Triage Assessment; Fuzzy Cognitive Maps