Scheduling elective surgeries: the tradeoff among bed capacity, waiting patients and operating room utilization using...

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Operations Research
• Hospital Management Systems
• Operations Management

Background:

• Operating room scheduling is complex due to limited resources like staff, equipment, and beds.
• Efficient resource allocation is crucial for overall system welfare and patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an integer linear programming model for optimal elective surgery scheduling.
• To minimize patient waiting times, operating room underutilization, and recovery unit load variations.

Main Methods:

• Developed two goal programming (GP) models: lexicographic and weighted.
• Incorporated four key objectives: minimizing patient wait times, OR underutilization, maximum recovery unit patients, and recovery unit range.
• Utilized an integer linear programming approach for multi-objective optimization.

Main Results:

• The proposed GP models can generate effective surgical schedules when resource availability is known.
• Priority levels and preference weights significantly influence the resulting schedules.
• Numerical studies demonstrated the models' ability to produce optimal master-surgery schedules.

Conclusions:

• The developed models provide a framework for optimizing surgical scheduling under resource constraints.
• Goal programming effectively balances competing objectives in operating room management.
• Understanding the trade-offs associated with goal priorities is essential for effective scheduling.