IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/hcarem/v16y2013i4p352-365.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Using discrete-event simulation in strategic capacity planning for an outpatient physical therapy service

Author

Listed:
  • Chi-Lun Rau
  • Pei-Fang Tsai
  • Sheau-Farn Liang
  • Jhih-Cian Tan
  • Hong-Cheng Syu
  • Yue-Ling Jheng
  • Ting-Syuan Ciou
  • Fu-Shan Jaw

Abstract

This study uses a simulation model as a tool for strategic capacity planning for an outpatient physical therapy clinic in Taipei, Taiwan. The clinic provides a wide range of physical treatments, with 6 full-time therapists in each session. We constructed a discrete-event simulation model to study the dynamics of patient mixes with realistic treatment plans, and to estimate the practical capacity of the physical therapy room. The changes in time-related and space-related performance measurements were used to evaluate the impact of various strategies on the capacity of the clinic. The simulation results confirmed that the clinic is extremely patient-oriented, with a bottleneck occurring at the traction units for Intermittent Pelvic Traction (IPT), with usage at 58.9 %. Sensitivity analysis showed that attending to more patients would significantly increase the number of patients staying for overtime sessions. We found that pooling the therapists produced beneficial results. The average waiting time per patient could be reduced by 45 % when we pooled 2 therapists. We found that treating up to 12 new patients per session had no significantly negative impact on returning patients. Moreover, we found that the average waiting time for new patients decreased if they were given priority over returning patients when called by the therapists. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Chi-Lun Rau & Pei-Fang Tsai & Sheau-Farn Liang & Jhih-Cian Tan & Hong-Cheng Syu & Yue-Ling Jheng & Ting-Syuan Ciou & Fu-Shan Jaw, 2013. "Using discrete-event simulation in strategic capacity planning for an outpatient physical therapy service," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 352-365, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:hcarem:v:16:y:2013:i:4:p:352-365
    DOI: 10.1007/s10729-013-9234-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10729-013-9234-2
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10729-013-9234-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter VanBerkel & John Blake, 2007. "A comprehensive simulation for wait time reduction and capacity planning applied in general surgery," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 10(4), pages 373-385, December.
    2. Brant E. Fries & Vijay P. Marathe, 1981. "Determination of Optimal Variable-Sized Multiple-Block Appointment Systems," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 29(2), pages 324-345, April.
    3. Gupta, Diwakar & Natarajan, Madhu Kailash & Gafni, Amiram & Wang, Lei & Shilton, Don & Holder, Douglas & Yusuf, Salim, 2007. "Capacity planning for cardiac catheterization: A case study," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 1-11, June.
    4. J B Jun & S H Jacobson & J R Swisher, 1999. "Application of discrete-event simulation in health care clinics: A survey," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 50(2), pages 109-123, February.
    5. T Eldabi & R J Paul & T Young, 2007. "Simulation modelling in healthcare: reviewing legacies and investigating futures," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 58(2), pages 262-270, February.
    6. Norman T. J. Bailey, 1954. "Queueing for Medical Care," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series C, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 3(3), pages 137-145, November.
    7. S Robinson, 2005. "Discrete-event simulation: from the pioneers to the present, what next?," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 56(6), pages 619-629, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Vahab Vahdat & Jacqueline Griffin & James E. Stahl, 2018. "Decreasing patient length of stay via new flexible exam room allocation policies in ambulatory care clinics," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 492-516, December.
    2. Namakshenas, Mohammad & Mazdeh, Mohammad Mahdavi & Braaksma, Aleida & Heydari, Mehdi, 2023. "Appointment scheduling for medical diagnostic centers considering time-sensitive pharmaceuticals: A dynamic robust optimization approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 305(3), pages 1018-1031.
    3. Barros, Oscar & Weber, Richard & Reveco, Carlos, 2021. "Demand analysis and capacity management for hospital emergencies using advanced forecasting models and stochastic simulation," Operations Research Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 8(C).
    4. Tsai, Pei-Fang Jennifer & Teng, Guei-Yu, 2014. "A stochastic appointment scheduling system on multiple resources with dynamic call-in sequence and patient no-shows for an outpatient clinic," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 239(2), pages 427-436.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michael Samudra & Carla Van Riet & Erik Demeulemeester & Brecht Cardoen & Nancy Vansteenkiste & Frank E. Rademakers, 2016. "Scheduling operating rooms: achievements, challenges and pitfalls," Journal of Scheduling, Springer, vol. 19(5), pages 493-525, October.
    2. S J E Taylor & T Eldabi & G Riley & R J Paul & M Pidd, 2009. "Simulation modelling is 50! Do we need a reality check?," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 60(1), pages 69-82, May.
    3. K Katsaliaki & N Mustafee, 2011. "Applications of simulation within the healthcare context," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 62(8), pages 1431-1451, August.
    4. Robinson, Stewart & Radnor, Zoe J. & Burgess, Nicola & Worthington, Claire, 2012. "SimLean: Utilising simulation in the implementation of lean in healthcare," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 219(1), pages 188-197.
    5. Mielczarek, Bożena, 2014. "Simulation modelling for contracting hospital emergency services at the regional level," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 235(1), pages 287-299.
    6. Gogi, Anastasia & Tako, Antuela A. & Robinson, Stewart, 2016. "An experimental investigation into the role of simulation models in generating insights," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 249(3), pages 931-944.
    7. Willoughby, Keith A. & Chan, Benjamin T.B. & Marques, Shauna, 2016. "Using simulation to test ideas for improving speech language pathology services," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 252(2), pages 657-664.
    8. Amir Elalouf & Guy Wachtel, 2022. "Queueing Problems in Emergency Departments: A Review of Practical Approaches and Research Methodologies," SN Operations Research Forum, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 1-46, March.
    9. Fermín Mallor & Cristina Azcárate, 2014. "Combining optimization with simulation to obtain credible models for intensive care units," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 221(1), pages 255-271, October.
    10. Jesús Isaac Vázquez-Serrano & Rodrigo E. Peimbert-García & Leopoldo Eduardo Cárdenas-Barrón, 2021. "Discrete-Event Simulation Modeling in Healthcare: A Comprehensive Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-20, November.
    11. Carter, Michael W. & Busby, Carolyn R., 2023. "How can operational research make a real difference in healthcare? Challenges of implementation," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 306(3), pages 1059-1068.
    12. Weiwei Zhang & Shiyong Liu & Nathaniel Osgood & Hongli Zhu & Ying Qian & Peng Jia, 2023. "Using simulation modelling and systems science to help contain COVID‐19: A systematic review," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(1), pages 207-234, January.
    13. Tsai, Pei-Fang Jennifer & Teng, Guei-Yu, 2014. "A stochastic appointment scheduling system on multiple resources with dynamic call-in sequence and patient no-shows for an outpatient clinic," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 239(2), pages 427-436.
    14. Ortiz-Barrios, Miguel & Arias-Fonseca, Sebastián & Ishizaka, Alessio & Barbati, Maria & Avendaño-Collante, Betty & Navarro-Jiménez, Eduardo, 2023. "Artificial intelligence and discrete-event simulation for capacity management of intensive care units during the Covid-19 pandemic: A case study," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    15. Kemper, Benjamin & Klaassen, Chris A.J. & Mandjes, Michel, 2014. "Optimized appointment scheduling," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 239(1), pages 243-255.
    16. S Vanderby & M W Carter, 2010. "An evaluation of the applicability of system dynamics to patient flow modelling," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 61(11), pages 1572-1581, November.
    17. Maria Di Mascolo & Alexia Gouin, 2013. "A generic simulation model to assess the performance of sterilization services in health establishments," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 45-61, March.
    18. K J Glowacka & R M Henry & J H May, 2009. "A hybrid data mining/simulation approach for modelling outpatient no-shows in clinic scheduling," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 60(8), pages 1056-1068, August.
    19. Thomas Rohleder & Peter Lewkonia & Diane Bischak & Paul Duffy & Rosa Hendijani, 2011. "Using simulation modeling to improve patient flow at an outpatient orthopedic clinic," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 135-145, June.
    20. Tako, Antuela A. & Kotiadis, Kathy, 2015. "PartiSim: A multi-methodology framework to support facilitated simulation modelling in healthcare," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 244(2), pages 555-564.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:hcarem:v:16:y:2013:i:4:p:352-365. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.