Multi-Level Governance and Emergency Management: Building a Priority Assessment Matrix in the Pandemic Outbreak

The execution of effective responses during a large-scale emergency requires gathering appropriate information and implementing priority assessment processes. In particular, the design of comprehensive and multi-dimensional evaluation methods is crucial, especially in countries characterized by the presence of multiple levels of authority and regional governance. In this article, we illustrate the development of a structured method that was used to support emergency decisions during the COVID-19 emergency in Brazil. We applied a design science roadmap in order to produce an artifact development process, based on extensive expert involvement and multiple sources, to identify the core requirements and information needs at healthcare management and governance levels. This study provides an assessment matrix and measurement scale based on twenty indicators and five key criteria (i.e., gravity, urgency, trend, amplitude, and impact). The study provides an evidence-based method for assessing the emergency status of, and defining recommendations for, operators and policymakers. This method can be adopted for other emergency management scenarios and contexts in order to support the analysis and implementation of responses; this has a specific relevance for multi-level governance contexts.