A Mixed Integer Programming Model for Regional Planning of a Hospital Inpatient Service: Executive Summary

摘要

The problem considered in this research is how to plan an efficient and effective hospital inpatient service within a set of hospitals in a region. The planning is to be done by a regional health systems planning agency, which sets or enforces standards of accessibility and acceptability to be achieved through a modification of the current system. A quantitative model to aid in this planning was developed. The model is a flexible planning tool that can be adapted to specific regions to examine specific issues. It might also be used by a single hospital to aid in planning and preparing proposals in the context of the region as a whole. Demand estimates are in terms of the location and demand of the population, classified by areas and level. The current state of the hospital service is described by location, size, level, and conformance of the service at existing hospitals and the location of possible new sites.