Optimization of hospital ward resources with patient relocation using Markov chain modeling

Anders Reenberg Andersen, Bo Friis Nielsen and Line Blander Reinhardt

European Journal of Operational Research, 2017, vol. 260, issue 3, 1152-1163

Abstract: Overcrowding of hospital wards is a well-known and often revisited problem in the literature, yet it appears in many different variations. In this study, we present a mathematical model to solve the problem of ensuring sufficient beds to hospital wards by re-distributing beds that are already available to the hospital. Patient flow is modeled using a homogeneous continuous-time Markov chain and optimization is conducted using a local search heuristic. Our model accounts for patient relocation, which has not been done analytically in literature with similar scope. The study objective is to ensure that patient occupancy is reflected by our Markov chain model, and that a local optimum can be derived within a reasonable runtime.

Keywords: OR in health services; Queueing; Markov chain; Stochastic optimization; Heuristics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ejores:v:260:y:2017:i:3:p:1152-1163

DOI: 10.1016/j.ejor.2017.01.026

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