Studying the appointment scheduling window considering patient no-show behavior in one public and one private outpatient clinics

Abstract

Purpose This study is carried out in one public and one private health-care centers based on different probabilities of patient’s no-show rate. The present study aims to determine the optimal queuing system capacity so that the expected total cost is minimized. Design/methodology/approach In this study an M/M/1/K queuing model is used for analytical properties of optimal queuing system capacity and appointment window so that total costs of these cases could be minimized. MATLAB software version R2014a is used to code the model. Findings In this paper, the optimal queuing system capacity is determined based on the changes in effective parameters, followed by a sensitivity analysis. Total cost in public center includes the costs of patient waiting time and rejection. However, the total cost in private center includes costs of physician idle time plus costs of public center. At the end, the results for public and private centers are compared to reach a final assessment. Originality/value Today, determining the optimal queuing system capacity is one of the most central concerns of outpatient clinics. The large capacity of the queuing system leads to an increase in the patient’s waiting-time cost, and on the other hand, a small queuing system will increase the cost of patient’s rejection. The approach suggested in this paper attempts to deal with this mentioned concern.