Application Of Simulation And Optimization In Medical Examination Process For Pediatric Outpatients: A Case Of Children Hospital 2

Abstract

In Vietnam, the demand for healthcare services increases over the years, as well as the demand for quality services. Thus, central hospitals such as Children Hospital 2 are always crowded making the services decline as well as the welfare of their staff. In the case of this hospital, the total time spent in the hospital is long, and the place is crowded, creating a favorable environment for spreading diseases. This study shows attempts to tackle the problem of long total time and overloading doctors in this case study. To overcome the problem, a framework was established to minimize the total time and the number of patients consulted per doctor per day. First, an Arena model is created to study and identify the bottleneck of the process for weekdays and weekends, then an optimization model is created based upon the findings of the bottleneck. The optimization model focused on always minimizing the number in queues hourly, to minimize the waiting time as well. As for the results, there are three solutions proposed, the improvement solution adding resources at other processes, the optimization solution reallocate, scheduling doctors, and the combination of both. The results were promising showing implications of possibility of implementation in the real system, the average total time was reduced by 43.43% (51.6 minutes) and the average waiting time was reduced by 49.15% (52.2 minutes), satisfaction of the target for total time reached another level, and the overload in consultation rooms was diffused tremendously. Moreover, with a more substantial amount of data, there is room for more improvements and optimizations in the future to be done for this hospital.