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A novel and efficient real-time sequencing strategy for appointment scheduling with unpunctual patients

Author

Listed:
  • Chao Li

    (Hunan University)

  • Zhi Yang

    (Hunan University)

  • Fajun Yang

    (Shanghai University
    Hagen University)

  • Feng Wang

    (Hunan University)

Abstract

No-shows and non-punctual appointments have always been uncertain factors faced by managers of service-oriented enterprises and institutions, which usually lead to a low utilization rate of resources and a rapid decline in service satisfaction. Taking clinics as an example, this paper proposes a novel and efficient real-time sequencing strategy to minimize the cost associated with patient waiting time, provider idle time and overtime considering no-shows and unpunctuality. Four types of patient waiting time are considered for the first time, based on which the developed real-time sequencing strategy is used for scheduling the waiting patients when the provider becomes idle. Then, a biased random-key genetic algorithm is adopted to determine the number of patients on appointment slots and the length of each appointment slot. Extensive computational experiments show that the derived real-time sequencing strategy achieves a significant cost reduction compared with the famous FCFS (first come first served) and the state-of-art LAR (the larger of appointment time and real arrival time) rules.

Suggested Citation

  • Chao Li & Zhi Yang & Fajun Yang & Feng Wang, 2024. "A novel and efficient real-time sequencing strategy for appointment scheduling with unpunctual patients," Journal of Scheduling, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 135-149, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jsched:v:27:y:2024:i:2:d:10.1007_s10951-023-00802-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s10951-023-00802-9
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