Logistic-based patient grouping for multi-disciplinary treatment

Present-day healthcare witnesses a growing demand for coordination of patient care. Coordination is needed especially in those cases in which hospitals have structured healthcare into specialtyoriented units, while a substantial portion of patient care is not limited to single units. From a logistic point of view, this multi-disciplinary patient care creates a tension between controlling the hospital's units, and the need for a control of the patient flow between units. A possible solution is the creation of new units in which different specialties work together for specific groups of patients. A first step in this solution is to identify the salient patient groups in need of multi-disciplinary care. Grouping techniques seem to offer a solution. However, most grouping approaches in medicine are driven by a search for pathophysiological homogeneity. In this paper, we present an alternative logistic-driven grouping approach. The starting point of our approach is a database with med...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2002
• Where: ARTMED
• Authors: Laura Maruster, Ton Weijters, Geerhard de Vries, Antal van den Bosch, Walter Daelemans
• Keywords: ARTMED 2002, Logistic Variables, Medical Cases, Patient Care