Dynamic scheduling of emergency department resources

The processes carried out in a hospital emergency department can be thought of as structures of activities that require resources in order to execute. Costs are reduced when resource levels are kept low, but this can lead to competition for resources and poor system performance. Careful allocation can improve performance by enabling more efficient use of resources. This paper proposes that resource scheduling be done in a series of dynamic reschedulings that use precise, detailed information about emergency department processes and available department resources to improve the quality of scheduling results. Rescheduling is done over a small set of activities, and uses a genetic algorithm. Simulations are used to evaluate this approach, and results indicate that it can be effective. Categories and Subject Descriptors D.2.9 [Management]: Software process models; I.2.8 [Problem Solving, Control Methods, and Search]: Scheduling General Terms Algorithms, Management, Performance, Human Fact...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: IHI
• Authors: Junchao Xiao, Leon J. Osterweil, Qing Wang
• Keywords: Emergency Department, Genetic Algorithm, Healthcare, IHI 2010, Resource