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Designing Observation Units for Heart Failure Patients: Capacity and Patient Flow Considerations

Author

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  • Emily Zhu

    (Department of Computer Information Systems and Quantitative Methods, McCoy College of Business, Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas 78666)

  • Beste Kucukyazici

    (Department of Accounting and Information Systems and Department of Supply Chain Management, Eli Broad College of Business, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48842)

  • Yasmina Maizi

    (Département de Management et Technologie, École des Sciences de la Gestion, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Québec H3C 3P8, Canada)

Abstract

In light of reported benefits, including reduced unnecessary hospitalization and postdischarge events, an increasing number of hospitals are introducing observation units for heart failure patients. To this end, the hospital administrators need to determine the optimal size of the observation unit as well as the admission and discharge policies that would maximize efficiency of the unit under a given capacity. We propose a two-phase methodological framework for designing an observation unit for heart failure patients. In the first phase, by studying various patient volumes and arrival patterns based on a data set from a large secondary hospital, we investigate the optimal number of beds to be installed in an observation unit by means of different analytical models. In the second phase, we study the possible admission and discharge policies for this observation unit with a prespecified capacity. We assess each policy under various quality-of-care and cost criteria, including the probability of postdischarge events, the likelihood of hospitalization, the total cost and the cost–gain ratio. We provide managerial insights for hospital administrators through extensive numerical experiments.

Suggested Citation

  • Emily Zhu & Beste Kucukyazici & Yasmina Maizi, 2020. "Designing Observation Units for Heart Failure Patients: Capacity and Patient Flow Considerations," Service Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(1), pages 8-25, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orserv:v:12:y:2020:i:1:p:8-25
    DOI: 10.1287/serv.2019.0255
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    References listed on IDEAS

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