Main description:

This book presents healthcare logistics solutions that have been successfully implemented at a variety of healthcare facilities. In each case, a major challenge is presented, along with the solution approach and implementation steps, followed by the impact on hospital operations. Problems encountered when implementing the results in practice are also discussed.

Much of the work presented is drawn from the experiences of members of the Center for Healthcare Operations Improvement and Research (CHOIR) at Twente, along with the CHOIR spin-off company, Rhythm.

Contents:

Chapter 1. Making an impact on healthcare logistics.- Part I: Overview of the state-of-the-art.- Chapter 2. A survey of literature reviews on patient planning and scheduling in healthcare.- Chapter 3. Theoretical and practical aspects of outpatient clinic optimization.- Chapter 4. Robust surgery scheduling: a model-based overview.- Chapter 5. Applications of hospital bed optimization.- Part II: OR applications in healthcare planning.- Chapter 6. A Markov modelling approach for surgical process analysis in cataract surgery.- Chapter 7. Emergency operating room or not?.- Chapter 8. Implementing algorithms to reduce ward occupancy fluctuation through advanced planning.- Chapter 9. Bed census predictions and nurse staffing.- Part III: Case studies.- Chapter 10. Workload forecasting and demand-driven staffing: a case study for post-operative physiotherapy.- Chapter 11. A quantitative analysis of integrated emergency posts.- Chapter 12. Minimizing variation in hospital bed utilization by creating a case type schedule for the operating room planning.- Chapter 13. Capacity management in the general hospital of ZGT, Almelo (NL).