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Visualizing the Demand for Various Resources as a Function of the Master Surgery Schedule: A Case Study

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Abstract

This paper presents a software system that visualizes the impact of the master surgery schedule on the demand for various resources throughout the rest of the hospital. The master surgery schedule can be seen as the engine that drives the hospital. Therefore, it is very important for decision makers to have a clear image on how the demand for resources is linked to the surgery schedule. The software presented in this paper enables schedulers to instantaneously view the impact of, e.g., an exchange of two block assignments in the master surgery schedule on the expected resource consumption pattern. A case study entailing a large Belgian surgery unit illustrates how the software can be used to assist in building better surgery schedules.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Pierre Luysmans and Joëlle Baré of the surgical day center of the university hospital Gasthuisberg, for providing the case study data. Special thanks go to Pierre Luysmans for suggesting numerous improvements concerning the functionality of the software. We are indebted to Prof. Dr. Guy Bogaert for his enthusiasm and interest in this project. We acknowledge the support given to this project by the Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (FWO), Vlaanderen, Belgium, under contract number G.0463.04.

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  1. Department DSIM: Decision Sciences & Information Management, Research Center for Operations Management, Faculty of Economics and Applied Economics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Naamsestraat 69, B-3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Jeroen Beliën, Erik Demeulemeester & Brecht Cardoen

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  1. Jeroen Beliën
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  2. Erik Demeulemeester
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  3. Brecht Cardoen
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Correspondence to Jeroen Beliën.

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Beliën, J., Demeulemeester, E. & Cardoen, B. Visualizing the Demand for Various Resources as a Function of the Master Surgery Schedule: A Case Study. J Med Syst 30, 343–350 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-006-9012-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-006-9012-5

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