Cyclic shift scheduling with on-call duties for emergency medical services

Area of Science:

• Operations Research
• Healthcare Management
• Emergency Medical Services

Background:

• Workforce scheduling in emergency medical services (EMS) requires ensuring continuous coverage despite unpredictable employee absences.
• On-call duties are used to manage uncertainty, but literature on ambulance scheduling and on-call planning is limited.
• Current ex-post assignment of on-call duties lacks systematic planning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop novel set covering-based integer programming formulations for cyclic, stint-based staff scheduling that incorporates on-call duties.
• To integrate different cycle times for regular and on-call duties to ensure fairness and efficiency.
• To reduce planning complexity and improve the ability to solve large-scale EMS scheduling problems.

Main Methods:

• Development of new integer programming formulations based on the set covering problem.
• Modeling of cyclic, stint-based staff schedules with integrated on-call duties.
• Inclusion of varied cycle times for regular and on-call duties, with a focus on fairness through rotation.

Main Results:

• The proposed stint-based model formulations significantly reduced planning complexity for EMS workforce scheduling.
• The models successfully solved reasonably large problem instances to optimality.
• Employee preferences, including fairness, reduced weekend work, and extended recovery times, were highly accommodated.

Conclusions:

• The developed integer programming models offer an effective solution for complex EMS workforce scheduling challenges.
• The approach enhances operational efficiency and addresses employee well-being and fairness in scheduling.
• This research provides a valuable tool for emergency medical service providers to optimize staffing and on-call assignments.