Simulation study of the outpatients queuing system under the time-interval controlled appointment registration mode / 中华医院管理杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To build a simulation model for outpatients queuing,using data from a general outpatient cardiovascular clinic of a general hospital in Shanghai and different rules in the process.The study employs time-interval controlled mode for appointment registration,for the purpose of analyzing characteristics of different queues.Methods Extraction of data of the clinic in a given month by means of HIS system to determine the parameters of the queuing models.Building the simulation model with Matlab to develop the plan of mixed queues and that of discrete queues,for analyzing the waiting time variations,with different number of doctors on duty and different number of appointments in one time interval.Resnlts In the Monday mornings for example,the mean waiting time of appointments or no-appointments are calculated by simulation with different queuing rules,different number of doctors on duty and different appointment quantities of one time interval.Conclusion The mean waiting times of appointments and no-appointments can be both sizably cut short by means of time-interval controlled appointment; different queuing plans are recommended for different departments; the simulation model should be further verified and optimized in practice.