Designing cyclic appointment schedules for outpatient clinics with scheduled and unscheduled patient arrivals

Nikky Kortbeek, Maartje Elisabeth Zonderland, Richardus J. Boucherie, Nelli Litvak, Elias W. Hans

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Abstract

We present a methodology to design appointment systems for outpatient clinics and diagnostic facilities that offer both walk-in and scheduled service. The developed blueprint for the appointment schedule prescribes the number of appointments to plan per day and the moment on the day to schedule the appointments. The method consists of two models that are linked by an algorithm; one for the day process that governs scheduled and unscheduled arrivals on the day and one for the access process of scheduled arrivals. Appointment schedules that balance the waiting time at the facility for unscheduled patients and the access time for scheduled patients, are calculated iteratively using the outcomes of the two models. The method is of general nature and can therefore also be applied to scheduling problems in other sectors than health care.
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationEnschede
PublisherUniversity of Twente
Number of pages20
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2011

Publication series

NameMemorandum
PublisherUniversity of Twente, Department of Applied Mathematics
No.1968
ISSN (Print)1874-4850
ISSN (Electronic)1874-4850

Keywords

  • Stochastic methods
  • Queuing theory
  • Service operations
  • Production planning and scheduling
  • Health care management

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