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Advancing Public Health and Medical Preparedness with Operations Research

Author

Listed:
  • Eva K. Lee

    (Center for Operations Research in Medicine and HealthCare, NSF I/UCRC Center for Health Organization Transformation, School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332)

  • Ferdinand Pietz

    (Strategic National Stockpile, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30322)

  • Bernard Benecke

    (Global Disease Detection and Emergency Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Guatemala City, Guatemala)

  • Jacquelyn Mason

    (National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30322)

  • Greg Burel

    (Strategic National Stockpile, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30322)

Abstract

Planning for a catastrophe involving a disease outbreak with the potential for mass casualties is a significant challenge for emergency managers. Public health experts at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) teamed with operations researchers to address important aspects of mass dispensing: medical supply distribution, locations of dispensing facilities, optimal facility staffing and resource allocation, routing of the population, and dispensing methods. Simulation-optimization technology was integrated into a decision support and data management suite, RealOpt©, for tactical and strategic operational planning. RealOpt has enabled the CDC to provide modern tools that support dynamic planning for emergencies and that establish a knowledge data bank to provide feedback about the deployment of various techniques. The RealOpt suite now has a US user base of over 6,500 public health and emergency directors covering all states, plus many international users. RealOpt has been applied in hundreds of drills and dispensing events, including anthrax preparedness, and for seasonal flu and H1N1 vaccination events.

Suggested Citation

  • Eva K. Lee & Ferdinand Pietz & Bernard Benecke & Jacquelyn Mason & Greg Burel, 2013. "Advancing Public Health and Medical Preparedness with Operations Research," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 43(1), pages 79-98, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orinte:v:43:y:2013:i:1:p:79-98
    DOI: 10.1287/inte.2013.0676
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. U Aickelin, 2002. "An indirect genetic algorithm for set covering problems," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 53(10), pages 1118-1126, October.
    2. Eva K. Lee & Chien-Hung Chen & Ferdinand Pietz & Bernard Benecke, 2009. "Modeling and Optimizing the Public-Health Infrastructure for Emergency Response," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 39(5), pages 476-490, October.
    3. Neil M. Ferguson & Derek A. T. Cummings & Christophe Fraser & James C. Cajka & Philip C. Cooley & Donald S. Burke, 2006. "Strategies for mitigating an influenza pandemic," Nature, Nature, vol. 442(7101), pages 448-452, July.
    4. Eva K. Lee & Siddhartha Maheshwary & Jacquelyn Mason & William Glisson, 2006. "Large-Scale Dispensing for Emergency Response to Bioterrorism and Infectious-Disease Outbreak," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 36(6), pages 591-607, December.
    5. Neil M. Ferguson & Derek A.T. Cummings & Simon Cauchemez & Christophe Fraser & Steven Riley & Aronrag Meeyai & Sopon Iamsirithaworn & Donald S. Burke, 2005. "Strategies for containing an emerging influenza pandemic in Southeast Asia," Nature, Nature, vol. 437(7056), pages 209-214, September.
    6. Eva K. Lee & Marco Zaider, 2008. "Operations Research Advances Cancer Therapeutics," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 38(1), pages 5-25, February.
    7. Nathaniel Hupert & Daniel Wattson & Jason Cuomo & Eric Hollingsworth & Kristof Neukermans & Wei Xiong, 2009. "Predicting Hospital Surge after a Large-Scale Anthrax Attack: A Model-Based Analysis of CDC's Cities Readiness Initiative Prophylaxis Recommendations," Medical Decision Making, , vol. 29(4), pages 424-437, July.
    8. Eva Lee & Siddhartha Maheshwary & Jacquelyn Mason & William Glisson, 2006. "Decision support system for mass dispensing of medications for infectious disease outbreaks and bioterrorist attacks," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 148(1), pages 25-53, November.
    9. Eva K. Lee & Chien-Hung Chen & Niquelle Brown & Joseph Handy & Alex Desiderio & Ruth Lopez & Brian Davis, 2012. "Designing Guest Flow and Operations Logistics for the Dolphin Tales," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 42(5), pages 492-506, October.
    10. J. Brooks & Eva Lee, 2010. "Analysis of the consistency of a mixed integer programming-based multi-category constrained discriminant model," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 174(1), pages 147-168, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Duijzer, Lotty Evertje & van Jaarsveld, Willem & Dekker, Rommert, 2018. "Literature review: The vaccine supply chain," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 268(1), pages 174-192.
    2. Ali Asgary & Svetozar Zarko Valtchev & Michael Chen & Mahdi M. Najafabadi & Jianhong Wu, 2020. "Artificial Intelligence Model of Drive-Through Vaccination Simulation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(1), pages 1-10, December.
    3. Fadaki, Masih & Abareshi, Ahmad & Far, Shaghayegh Maleki & Lee, Paul Tae-Woo, 2022. "Multi-period vaccine allocation model in a pandemic: A case study of COVID-19 in Australia," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    4. Eva K. Lee & Fan Yuan & Ferdinand H. Pietz & Bernard A. Benecke & Greg Burel, 2015. "Vaccine Prioritization for Effective Pandemic Response," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 45(5), pages 425-443, October.
    5. Büyüktahtakın, İ. Esra & des-Bordes, Emmanuel & Kıbış, Eyyüb Y., 2018. "A new epidemics–logistics model: Insights into controlling the Ebola virus disease in West Africa," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 265(3), pages 1046-1063.

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