Gauging performance of a queuing system using multi-server waiting line model (M/M/S): An investigation on a local hospital’s outpatient department

Abstract

Healthcare is a fast growing industry demanding perfection, top notch services and optimal utilization of available resources. Despite shortages in doctors and nurses as well as frequent overcrowding, the number of incoming patients to the government hospitals is increasing every year. The outpatient department in Malaysian Government hospitals is consistently experiencing frequent congestion particularly in the morning. The challenge for hospital administrators is to rightly and timely allocate resources in relevant departments. Henceforth, this study aims to further gauge the performance of an outpatient department in a local hospital in Kedah. In particular, it aims to investigate the current efficiency level of a queuing system of the said department and to propose potential solutions. The study uses Multi-server Queuing Models (M/M/s) to measure the performance of the waiting line. A computational work is then presented to value the operating characteristics of the model. The findings exhibit the performance of existing queuing system and the need to re-examine the number of doctors on duty. In all, the study may be beneficial as a decision making aid to the administrator of the outpatient department particularly to re-look and improve existing queuing system in tandem with the center’s commitment for better customer satisfaction and minimal patients’ turnover.