Day Surgery Scheduling and Optimization in Large Public Hospitals in China: A Three-Station Job Shop Scheduling...

Area of Science:

• Operations Research
• Healthcare Management
• Industrial Engineering

Background:

• Day surgery scheduling is critical for efficient hospital resource allocation and patient flow in day surgery centers (DSC).
• Current scheduling methods in large public hospitals in China may not fully optimize resource utilization and patient waiting times.
• The surgical process can be modeled as a flexible flow shop due to its three-stage nature.

Purpose of the Study:

• To integrate a three-station job shop scheduling problem (JSSP) into day surgery scheduling and optimization.
• To develop a mixed-integer linear programming model for efficient DSC scheduling.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed scheduling strategy in improving DSC efficiency and patient experience.

Main Methods:

• Formulation of a mixed-integer linear programming model for the three-station job shop scheduling problem.
• Application of the model to a case study at West China Hospital (WCH).
• Numerical experiments utilizing a genetic algorithm for optimization.

Main Results:

• The proposed three-station job shop scheduling (TSJS) strategy significantly improves DSC efficiency.
• Patient waiting times in the DSC were substantially reduced.
• The TSJS strategy demonstrated flexibility for accommodating emergency surgeries.

Conclusions:

• The TSJS strategy offers a robust solution for optimizing day surgery scheduling in large public hospitals.
• Efficient resource allocation and reduced patient wait times are key benefits of this approach.
• The model provides a valuable tool for timely scheduling adjustments and enhanced operational flexibility in DSCs.