Planning and scheduling of operating theater under resources constraints: State of the art and future trends and impact on energy consumption

Abstract

The management of operating theaters is currently the subject of considerable discussion, particularly with regard to the use of human and material resources, which are available in limited quantities. The first part of this paper deals with the management of hospital systems and operating theaters. In the second part, we review the main studies on planning surgical procedures under resources constraints, as well as the different methods for solving planning and scheduling problems in operating theaters. A comparative analysis is carried out in order to identify the fundamental ideas leading to the adoption of a new model capable of meeting the needs and satisfying the different constraints of this management. This article shows that planning and scheduling play a major role in the management of an operating theater, which remains difficult given the multiplicity of determinants involved. In this work, we describe the problem of planning and scheduling operating theaters according to several authors, aiming to evaluate and improve existing operating programs to make them feasible and of good quality. The depletion of the world’s available energy resources requires the construction of hospital buildings that respect the environment and take into account energy efficiency while meeting different needs.