Resource Scheduling

Provision of Decision Support for Optimizing Resource Scheduling in the Operating Suite

Scenario Details:  Karen is a pediatric urologist in the same adult hospital as David. Because of her particular specialty, its unusual equipment, and the additional training the OR support team must have, scheduling her pediatric patients is a difficult undertaking. In the past, the easiest solution was to simply block off an OR, stock it with pediatric urology equipment, and staff it with the appropriate personnel, regardless of whether there was a full patient schedule or not. Fortunately the hospital now employs an OR scheduling system compatible with the CDS infrastructure. The new scheduler asks the CDS system to obtain inventory information, surgeon equipment preferences, and historical case durations cross-referenced by both provider and disease. The DSS optimizes the OR schedule for the new surgeries being scheduled. It identifies where equipment is located, what staff is available and when rooms are anticipated to be available for new cases. It provides that information back to the scheduler so that Karen can select an optimal OR time. The CDS system ensures that all operating rooms are at full capacity and patient flow is smooth and efficient.

Actors:  Physician (Karen)

Requirements: