Radiology, Vol 122, 359-364, Copyright © 1977 by Radiological Society of North America
A Monte Carlo computer model to investigate patient scheduling
KD Steidley and S Vanloh
A Monte Carlo computer model was developed to investigate various types of
patient appointment schedules for a single channel queue. Input parameters
included the incidence of no-shows, the rate of unscheduled walk-ins, the
frequency distribution of physician examination times, and the string of
appointment times. The results included the frequency distributions of
physician utilization rates and the total waiting time of all patients.
Five hospital clinics were simulated. Even increment schedules yielded the
best trade-off between physician utilization and patient waiting.
