Generalized first transit times with an illustration in human service system planning.
This paper is concerned with extending the notion of first transit time analysis in Markov chains to sets of states rather than individual states. The motivation for the research came as a result of the state structure of a Markov chain model being developed to aid government planners in operating service systems for the elderly. The mathematics of the analysis is presented, followed by numerical results showing the expected transit times from service to service for a country service system for the elderly in Pennsylvania.
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008390:Markov Chains; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010414:Pennsylvania; D010934:Planning Techniques; D012737:Sex Factors; D013997:Time Factors