Simulation Study of the Optimal Appointment Number for Outpatient Clinics

This paper analyzes the appointment scheduling systems in specialist outpatient clinics (SOC) to determine the optimal number of appointments to be planned in one session under different performance indicators and consult room configurations. A discrete event simulation model is constructed to model the workflow of a SOC considering three consult room configurations. Ground data are collected to generate model parameters including consult time, no-show rate and lateness rate. An appointment rule based on Bailey’s rule is proposed to generate appointments with various numbers of planned appointments in one session. Simulation results are measured by performance indicators including patient queue, patient waiting time, doctor utilization and doctor overtime. Simulation results show that the optimal number of planned appointments varies according to different operational requirements and consult room configurations. Study in this paper provides a guideline to choose the optimal number of planned appointments according to specific requirements. (Received in December 2008, accepted in May 2009. This paper was with the authors 2 months for 2 revisions.)