Optimal grouping for a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) scanner

Nico Vandaele, Inneke van Nieuwenhuyse and Sascha Cupers

Working Papers from University of Antwerp, Faculty of Business and Economics

Abstract: In this paper we analyze how a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Scanner can be managed more efficiently, simultaneously improving patient comfort (in terms of total time spent in the system) and increasing availability in case of emergency calls. By means of a superposition approach, all relevant data on the arrival and service process of different patient types are transformed into a general single server, single class queueing model. The objective function consists of the weighted average patient lead time, which is a multidimensional convex function of the different patient group sizes. The “optimal” patient group sizes are determined by means of a dedicated optimization routine. The model does not only provide a valuable aid for planning purposes, but also allows to model customer service. It is illustrated by means of real life data, obtained from the Virga Jesse Hospital (Hasselt, Belgium).

Keywords: Queueing; Health services; Performance analysis; Lot sizing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 24 pages
Date: 2001-12
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://repository.uantwerpen.be/docman/irua/84430f/87d04046.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ant:wpaper:2001040

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Papers from University of Antwerp, Faculty of Business and Economics Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Joeri Nys (joeri.nys@uantwerpen.be).