4 Staffed-Bed Capacity Management

摘要

Inpatient units where patients are treated and cared for during their hospital sojourn comprise a significant portion of hospitals' infrastructure. A major component of hospital costs is the cost of staffing inpatient units to meet time-varying demand. Demand can vary because the number of patients under care changes with time and because the level of care needed by patients also varies. Demand follows a weekly cycle, with bed occupancy levels starting relatively low on Mondays, building up to a peak either on Wednesday or Thursday, and then declining steadily until the start of the next week. There are typically no deferrable surgeries performed during weekends, which further reduces the inflow of patients on weekends.