Track: Healthcare Operations and Healthcare Engineering

Abstract

A master surgical schedule (MSS) determines the allocation of surgical specialties on operating rooms (ORs) over a time horizon. In this paper, an integer linear programming model is formulated to solve the problem of creating MSS while considering the downstream resources. The proposed model is concerned with the minimization of the number of possible blockings between intraoperative and postoperative stages and the minimization of variability in postoperative beds occupancy. The model includes constraints related to ORs, surgical groups, and nurses. The model is applied in a private hospital at Alexandria, Egypt. The results showed a reduction in number of blockings between stages and a balanced daily postoperative beds occupancy when compared to the hospital’s current schedule. Additional analysis is carried out to show the effect of changing the number of arriving patients and the length of stay in the postoperative stage on the performance of the developed MSS.