An operations research approach to automated patient scheduling for eye care using a multi-criteria decision support tool

Inefficient management of resources and waiting lists for high-risk ophthalmology patients can contribute to sight loss. The aim was to develop a decision support tool which determines an optimal patient schedule for ophthalmology patients. Our approach considers available booking slots as well as patient-specific factors. Using standard software (Microsoft Excel and OpenSolver), an operations research approach was used to formulate a mathematical model. Given a set of patients and clinic capacities, the model objective was to schedule patients efficiently depending on eyecare measure risk factors, referral-to-treatment times and targets, patient locations and slot availabilities over a pre-defined planning horizon. Our decision support tool can feedback whether or not a patient is scheduled. If a patient is scheduled, the tool determines the optimal date and location to book the patients’ appointments, with a score provided to show the associated value of the decisions made. Our dataset from 519 patients showed optimal prioritization based on location, risk of serious vision loss/damage and the referral-to-treatment time. Given the constraints of available slots, managers can input hospital-specific parameters such as demand and capacity into our model. The model can be applied and implemented immediately, without the need for additional software, to generate an optimized patient schedule.