Synapse
⌘+K
Synapse
PulseExploreClubsResearchersJournals
Instagram
HomeClubsExplore
March 14, 2026Manufacturing & Service Operations Management

Optimizing Interhospital Patient Transfer Decisions: A Queueing Network Approach

View Full Paper
Ask AI
Bookmark
Share

Authors

TCTimothy C. Y. ChanJPJangwon ParkFPFrances Pogacar

Discussion

Loading...

Member takes

Overview

Queueing network model demonstrates policies improving patient flow and equity in hospitals during COVID-19 surges.

Key Points

  • To investigate interhospital transfer policies that reduce congestion and improve equity in healthcare during surges like the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Developed a queueing network model for patient flow between hospitals
  • Formulated a stochastic control problem for optimal transfer policies
  • Estimated and validated model using data from 17 hospitals in Ontario, Canada
  • Reduced expected patient-days above 95% capacity by up to 48.4% in wards and 26.4% in ICUs
  • Improved patient distribution equity by up to 31.1% compared to a no-transfer policy
  • Showed that joint optimization of transfer policies mitigated overoccupancy issues despite diminished COVID load inequity.

Cite This Study

Chan et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69b4b9fb18185d8a39802537https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2025.0497
View Full Paper
Ask AI
Bookmark
Share