title: Capacity planning and appointment scheduling for new patient oncology consults.
abstract: To ensure that patients receive timely access to care, it has become increasingly important to use existing care provider capacity as efficiently as possible and to make informed capacity planning decisions. To support this decision-making process at a regional cancer center in British Columbia (Canada), we undertook a simulation and optimization based study that investigated the simultaneous impact of the available number of new patient consultation slots, appointment scheduling policies and oncologist specialization configurations on the timeliness of patient access to care and physician workload. The key contribution of this paper is the methodological framework it provides to decision makers who manage specialty clinics to ensure that they are using their resources efficiently and making informed strategic short- and mid-term capacity planning decisions for new patient demand.
authors.affiliation: British Columbia Cancer Agency, 600 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 4E6, Canada. claire.ma@bccancer.bc.ca.
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, 2053 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z2, Canada.
authors.forename: Antoine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sauré
authors.affiliation: Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, 2053 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z2, Canada.
authors.forename: Martin L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Puterman
authors.affiliation: British Columbia Cancer Agency, 600 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 4E6, Canada.
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.affiliation: British Columbia Cancer Agency, 600 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 4E6, Canada.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tyldesley
mesh_terms: D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D001955:British Columbia; D002173:Cancer Care Facilities / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003657:Decision Making; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D006801:Humans; D000072103:Oncologists / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000458:organization & administration; D013997:Time Factors; D014850:Waiting Lists
keywords: Cancer care; Capacity planning; Health care operations; Mixed integer programming; Patient appointment scheduling; Simulation