A decision support system for surgery theatre scheduling problems

Abstract

From long to short term planning, the decision processes inherent to surgery theatre organization are often subject of empiricism. The current hospital information systems available on Portuguese public hospitals lack a decision support system component that could help achieve better planning solutions, thus better operational performance of the surgery theatre. Since the surgery theatre is the biggest hospital budget consumer, the use of surgery related resources and its intrinsic planning must be carefully studied. We developed a new decision support system for surgery planning conjointly with one of the largest hospitals in the north of Portugal. As for now, the goals of the DSS are to improve the planning process and increase policy compliance. We will enhance this framework by integrating data mining, optimization and simulation techniques in a way that enables a more accurate representation of the surgery theatre problems' stochastic nature, allowing the users to find enhanced planning alternatives. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.