Examination-order scheduling for minimizing waiting time: A case study of a medical checkup. (September 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ito, Mari; Hara, Shizuka; Tanaka, Mirai; Takashima, Ryuta
• Is Part Of: Operations research for health care. Volume 22(2019)
• Publication Date: 2019-09
• Subjects: OR in health services -- 0–1 integer programming model -- Heuristic method -- Waiting time -- Examination-order scheduling; Medical care -- Mathematical models -- Periodicals; Medical policy -- Mathematical models -- Periodicals; Health services administration -- Mathematical models -- Periodicals; Operations research -- Periodicals; Operations Research -- Periodicals; Health Services Research -- Periodicals; Health Policy -- Periodicals; Delivery of Health Care -- Periodicals; 362.106805
• DOI: 10.1016/j.orhc.2019.100190
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2211-6923

Abstract

Abstract: This paper introduces a mathematical programming model and a heuristic method for examination-order scheduling in medical checkup. The purpose of this scheduling is to minimize the time spent waiting for medical examinations. We create the examination-order schedule based on the expected throughput of examinations. The obtained schedules improved efficiency by reducing the total time spent waiting. Comparisons with previously used scheduling methods demonstrate the efficiency of our scheduling method. We find that the labor cost decreases due to reduction in waiting times. Furthermore, it is shown that the heuristic method proposed in this study has a robustness to the results by means of a Monte Carlo simulation.