Issue |
RAIRO-Oper. Res.
Volume 56, Number 6, November-December 2022
|
|
---|---|---|
Page(s) | 4347 - 4362 | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/ro/2022182 | |
Published online | 23 December 2022 |
On a timetabling problem in the health care system
Department of Statistics and Operations Research, College of Science, Kuwait University, Kuwait City, Kuwait
* Corresponding author: intesarm@ku.edu.kw
Received:
25
May
2022
Accepted:
10
October
2022
This paper proposes a mathematical goal program for the design of timetables for radiologists. The goal program converts the tedious monthly tasks of the head of the radiology department of a leading hospital to a simple goal optimization problem that abides to the regulations of the Ministry of Health and avoids conflicting issues that may arise among coworkers. The optimization problem which is designed for the tactical level can also be used at the strategic level (i.e., account for a long time horizon) to plan for longer term constraints such vacations, medical and study leaves, recruitment, retirement, etc. Despite its large size, the problem is herein solved using an off-the-shelf solver (CPLEX). Empirical tests on the design of timetables for the case study prove the efficiency of the obtained schedule and highlights the time gain and utility of the developed model. They reflect the practical aspects of timetabling and radiologists’ availability. Specifically, not only does the model and its solution reduce the effort of the Department head in this design stage, but it also promotes social peace among the technicians and a sense of fairness/unbiasedness. In addition, the designed model can be used at the operational level as a rescheduling tool by those technicians wishing to trade their shifts, and as a sensitivity analysis tool by managers wishing to study the effect of some phenomena such as absenteeism, increasing or decreasing the workforce, and extending work hours on the welfare of patients.
Mathematics Subject Classification: 90C05 / 90-08
Key words: Assignment / scheduling / integer programming / timetabling / goal programming
© The authors. Published by EDP Sciences, ROADEF, SMAI 2022
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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