IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/hcarem/v26y2023i4d10.1007_s10729-023-09656-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Determining optimal COVID-19 testing center locations and capacities

Author

Listed:
  • Esma Akgun

    (University of Waterloo)

  • Sibel A. Alumur

    (University of Waterloo)

  • F. Safa Erenay

    (University of Waterloo)

Abstract

We study the problem of determining the locations and capacities of COVID-19 specimen collection centers to efficiently improve accessibility to polymerase chain reaction testing during surges in testing demand. We develop a two-echelon multi-period location and capacity allocation model that determines optimal number and locations of pop-up testing centers, capacities of the existing centers as well as assignments of demand regions to these centers, and centers to labs. The objective is to minimize the total number of delayed appointments and specimens subject to budget, capacity, and turnaround time constraints, which will in turn improve the accessibility to testing. We apply our model to a case study for locating COVID-19 testing centers in the Region of Waterloo, Canada using data from the Ontario Ministry of Health, public health databases, and medical literature. We also test the performance of the model under uncertain demand and analyze its outputs under various scenarios. Our analyses provide practical insights to the public health decision-makers on the timing of capacity expansions and the locations for the new pop-up centers. According to our results, the optimal strategy is to dynamically expand the existing specimen collection center capacities and prevent bottlenecks by locating pop-up facilities. The optimal locations of pop-ups are among the densely populated areas that are in proximity to the lab and a subset of those locations are selected with the changes in demand. A comparison with a static approach promises up to 39% cost savings under high demand using the developed multi-period model.

Suggested Citation

  • Esma Akgun & Sibel A. Alumur & F. Safa Erenay, 2023. "Determining optimal COVID-19 testing center locations and capacities," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 26(4), pages 748-769, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:hcarem:v:26:y:2023:i:4:d:10.1007_s10729-023-09656-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s10729-023-09656-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10729-023-09656-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10729-023-09656-1?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. Li, Xiaoming, 2023. "A two-level policy for controlling an epidemic and its dynamics," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    2. Tang, Lianhua & Li, Yantong & Bai, Danyu & Liu, Tao & Coelho, Leandro C., 2022. "Bi-objective optimization for a multi-period COVID-19 vaccination planning problem," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    3. Adrian Ramirez-Nafarrate & Joshua D. Lyon & John W. Fowler & Ozgur M. Araz, 2015. "Point-of-Dispensing Location and Capacity Optimization via a Decision Support System," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 24(8), pages 1311-1328, August.
    4. Yue Zhang & Oded Berman & Patrice Marcotte & Vedat Verter, 2010. "A bilevel model for preventive healthcare facility network design with congestion," IISE Transactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(12), pages 865-880.
    5. Robert Aboolian & Oded Berman & Dmitry Krass, 2012. "Profit Maximizing Distributed Service System Design with Congestion and Elastic Demand," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 46(2), pages 247-261, May.
    6. Paul Intrevado & Vedat Verter & Lucie Tremblay, 2019. "Patient-centric design of long-term care networks," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 376-390, June.
    7. Vedat Verter & Sophie Lapierre, 2002. "Location of Preventive Health Care Facilities," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 110(1), pages 123-132, February.
    8. Zhang, Yue & Berman, Oded & Verter, Vedat, 2009. "Incorporating congestion in preventive healthcare facility network design," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 198(3), pages 922-935, November.
    9. Soheil Davari & Kemal Kilic & Gurdal Ertek, 2015. "Fuzzy bi-objective preventive health care network design," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 303-317, September.
    10. Samir Elhedhli, 2006. "Service System Design with Immobile Servers, Stochastic Demand, and Congestion," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 8(1), pages 92-97, December.
    11. Sanjay Dominik Jena & Jean-François Cordeau & Bernard Gendron, 2015. "Dynamic Facility Location with Generalized Modular Capacities," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(3), pages 484-499, August.
    12. Vedat Verter & Yue Zhang, 2015. "Location Models for Preventive Care," International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, in: H. A. Eiselt & Vladimir Marianov (ed.), Applications of Location Analysis, edition 1, chapter 9, pages 223-241, Springer.
    13. Liu, Kanglin & Liu, Changchun & Xiang, Xi & Tian, Zhili, 2023. "Testing facility location and dynamic capacity planning for pandemics with demand uncertainty," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 304(1), pages 150-168.
    14. Navneet Vidyarthi & Onur Kuzgunkaya, 2015. "The impact of directed choice on the design of preventive healthcare facility network under congestion," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 459-474, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Kerim Dogan & Mumtaz Karatas & Ertan Yakici, 2020. "A model for locating preventive health care facilities," Central European Journal of Operations Research, Springer;Slovak Society for Operations Research;Hungarian Operational Research Society;Czech Society for Operations Research;Österr. Gesellschaft für Operations Research (ÖGOR);Slovenian Society Informatika - Section for Operational Research;Croatian Operational Research Society, vol. 28(3), pages 1091-1121, September.
    2. Ralf Krohn & Sven Müller & Knut Haase, 2021. "Preventive healthcare facility location planning with quality-conscious clients," OR Spectrum: Quantitative Approaches in Management, Springer;Gesellschaft für Operations Research e.V., vol. 43(1), pages 59-87, March.
    3. B. L. Garcia & R. Bekker & R. D. Mei & N. H. Chavannes & N. D. Kruyt, 2021. "Optimal patient protocols in regional acute stroke care," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 515-530, September.
    4. Soheil Davari, 2019. "The incremental cooperative design of preventive healthcare networks," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 272(1), pages 445-492, January.
    5. Klein, Michael G. & Verter, Vedat & Moses, Brian G., 2020. "Designing a rural network of dialysis facilities," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 282(3), pages 1088-1100.
    6. Davari, Soheil & Kilic, Kemal & Naderi, Siamak, 2016. "A heuristic approach to solve the preventive health care problem with budget and congestion constraints," Applied Mathematics and Computation, Elsevier, vol. 276(C), pages 442-453.
    7. Acar, Müge & Kaya, Onur, 2019. "A healthcare network design model with mobile hospitals for disaster preparedness: A case study for Istanbul earthquake," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 273-292.
    8. Soheil Davari & Kemal Kilic & Gurdal Ertek, 2015. "Fuzzy bi-objective preventive health care network design," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 303-317, September.
    9. Navneet Vidyarthi & Onur Kuzgunkaya, 2015. "The impact of directed choice on the design of preventive healthcare facility network under congestion," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 459-474, December.
    10. Ouyang, Yanfeng & Wang, Zhaodong & Yang, Hai, 2015. "Facility location design under continuous traffic equilibrium," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 81(P1), pages 18-33.
    11. Yong Liang & Mengshi Lu & Zuo‐Jun Max Shen & Runyu Tang, 2021. "Data Center Network Design for Internet‐Related Services and Cloud Computing," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(7), pages 2077-2101, July.
    12. Kucukyazici, Beste & Zhang, Yue & Ardestani-Jaafari, Amir & Song, Lijie, 2020. "Incorporating patient preferences in the design and operation of cancer screening facility networks," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 287(2), pages 616-632.
    13. An, Shi & Cui, Na & Bai, Yun & Xie, Weijun & Chen, Mingliu & Ouyang, Yanfeng, 2015. "Reliable emergency service facility location under facility disruption, en-route congestion and in-facility queuing," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 199-216.
    14. Cornelia Schön & Pratibha Saini, 2018. "Market-Oriented Service Network Design When Demand is Sensitive to Congestion," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(5), pages 1253-1275, October.
    15. Ahmadi-Javid, Amir & Hoseinpour, Pooya, 2019. "Service system design for managing interruption risks: A backup-service risk-mitigation strategy," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 274(2), pages 417-431.
    16. Maryam Radman & Kourosh Eshghi, 2018. "Designing a multi-service healthcare network based on the impact of patients’ flow among medical services," OR Spectrum: Quantitative Approaches in Management, Springer;Gesellschaft für Operations Research e.V., vol. 40(3), pages 637-678, July.
    17. Hoseinpour, Pooya & Ahmadi-Javid, Amir, 2016. "A profit-maximization location-capacity model for designing a service system with risk of service interruptions," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 113-134.
    18. Robert Aboolian & Oded Berman & Dmitry Krass, 2012. "Profit Maximizing Distributed Service System Design with Congestion and Elastic Demand," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 46(2), pages 247-261, May.
    19. Zhang, Yue & Liang, Liping & Liu, Emma & Chen, Chong & Atkins, Derek, 2016. "Patient choice analysis and demand prediction for a health care diagnostics company," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 251(1), pages 198-205.
    20. Robert Aboolian & Oded Berman & Vedat Verter, 2016. "Maximal Accessibility Network Design in the Public Sector," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(1), pages 336-347, February.

    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:26:y:2023:i:4:d:10.1007_s10729-023-09656-1. 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.