Optimization of multi-queue in-ward patients routing from outpatient department to internal wards

Abstract

The patient-flow bottleneck from the outpatient department (OD) to internal wards is always a problem. Thus, analysis of patient flow and optimization of in-ward patient routing are important to improve the efficiency of managing hospital operations. An integrated method, involving stochastic process analysis, modeling and algorithm development, is proposed to effectively solve the problem. Based on the analysis of the behavior of inpatient demand from mass data, a multi-queue routing model with a fixed topology structure is developed to describe the process of patient flow from OD to internal wards. A dynamic optimization algorithm named analytical cutoff algorithm is developed to serve the high-priority patients as soon as possible, while the mean patient waiting time is minimized. A series of simulation experiments have been conducted to verify the finally results.