Tactical resource allocation and elective patient admission planning in care processes

Area of Science:

• Operations Research
• Healthcare Management
• Health Systems Engineering

Background:

• Hospital resource allocation and elective patient admission planning are complex operational challenges.
• Existing methods often struggle to integrate multiple resources, patient groups, and uncertain treatment pathways.
• Efficient resource utilization and equitable patient access are critical for effective healthcare delivery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a novel method for tactical resource allocation and elective patient admission planning in hospitals.
• To develop an integrated decision-making framework for a chain of hospital resources.
• To enhance equitable patient access, control patient waiting times, and optimize resource capacity utilization.

Main Methods:

• Development of a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) framework.
• Integration of multiple resources, time periods, and patient groups with uncertain treatment paths.
• A generic approach allowing for extensions to objective criteria and constraints.

Main Results:

• The proposed method leads to a more equitable distribution of hospital resources.
• It provides enhanced control over patient access times and the number of patients served.
• Demonstrates improved utilization of allocated resource capacity.

Conclusions:

• The MILP-based method offers a robust solution for tactical hospital management.
• The approach is adaptable to various hospital settings and management objectives.
• It effectively balances patient access, service targets, and resource efficiency.