Towards decision support for waiting lists: an operations management view.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Operations Management
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Healthcare waiting lists are a complex issue influenced by national expenditure limits and managerial decisions.
• Existing frameworks often overlook the interplay between different planning levels (national, regional, hospital, process) and demand/supply mechanisms.
• Managerial decision-making significantly contributes to the formation and persistence of healthcare waiting lists.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the potential of an operations management perspective for managing healthcare waiting lists.
• To describe a reference framework for waiting list management across various healthcare planning levels.
• To develop and illustrate a situation-specific model for supporting decision-making in waiting list management.

Main Methods:

• Developed a reference framework for waiting list management, integrating national, regional, hospital, and process levels.
• Distinguished underlying mechanisms of demand and supply contributing to waiting list development.
• Created an input-output model to project regional treatment demand and evaluate waiting list scenarios.

Main Results:

• The framework effectively integrates different planning levels and demand/supply factors influencing waiting lists.
• The input-output model successfully projected demand for cataract treatment in a specific region.
• The model enables the evaluation of different scenarios for meeting treatment demand and managing waiting lists.

Conclusions:

• An operations management approach, supported by situation-specific models, is crucial for effective waiting list management.
• Integrated planning and demand-supply analysis are essential for addressing healthcare waiting lists.
• The developed input-output model provides a valuable tool for regional healthcare planning and decision-making regarding waiting lists.