Publication Type
Conference Proceeding Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
8-2012
Abstract
Most queuing problems are based on FIFO, LIFO, or static priority queues; very few address dynamic priority queues. In this paper, we present a case in a hospital’s emergency department (ED) where the queuing process can be modeled as a time-varying M/M/s queue with re-entrant patients. In order to improve patient flow in the department, we propose the use of a dynamic priority queue to dispatch patients to consultation with doctors. We test our proposed model using simulation and our experimental results show that a dynamic priority queue is effective in reducing the length of stay (LOS) of patients and hence improving patient flow. Furthermore, we show that a hybrid scheme is effective in preventing starvation.
Discipline
Artificial Intelligence and Robotics | Medicine and Health Sciences
Publication
IEEE International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (CASE) 2012: Seoul, Korea, August 20-24, 2012
First Page
125
Last Page
130
ISBN
9781467304290
Identifier
10.1109/CoASE.2012.6386409
Publisher
IEEE
City or Country
Piscataway, NJ
Embargo Period
12-15-2016
Citation
TAN, Kar Way; WANG, Chao; and LAU, Hoong Chuin.
Improving patient flow in emergency department through dynamic priority queue. (2012). IEEE International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (CASE) 2012: Seoul, Korea, August 20-24, 2012. 125-130.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sis_research/3317
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
http://doi.org/10.1109/CoASE.2012.6386409