Ebook: Advanced Decision Making Methods Applied to Health Care

The most difficult part of making decisions in the health care field on all levels (national, regional, institutional, patient) is linked to the very complexity of the system itself, to the intrinsic uncertainty involved and its dynamic nature. This requires not only the ability to analyze and interpret a large amount of information but also arrange it so that it becomes a cognitive base for appropriate decision-making. Moreover, decisions in the health care field are subjected to many challenges and constraints: fast change and uncertain outcomes, aging population, increasing citizen expectations, equity considerations and limited resources. Operations research, statistical and economic-related quantitative methods supply these decisions making tools and methodology. The contributed book presents a collection of applications to concrete situations detailing the problem area, the methodology employed, the implementation and results. Each topic addressed in the book will be structured in such a way that an interdisciplinary and wide audience will be able to use the materials presented. As an example the book chapters will address health policies issues, planning health services, epidemiology and disease modelling, home-care modelling, logistics in health care, capacity planning, quality and appropriateness.

---

The most difficult part of making decisions in the health care field on all levels (national, regional, institutional, patient) is linked to the very complexity of the system itself, to the intrinsic uncertainty involved and its dynamic nature. This requires not only the ability to analyze and interpret a large amount of information but also arrange it so that it becomes a cognitive base for appropriate decision-making. Moreover, decisions in the health care field are subjected to many challenges and constraints: fast change and uncertain outcomes, aging population, increasing citizen expectations, equity considerations and limited resources. Operations research, statistical and economic-related quantitative methods supply these decisions making tools and methodology. The contributed book presents a collection of applications to concrete situations detailing the problem area, the methodology employed, the implementation and results. Each topic addressed in the book will be structured in such a way that an interdisciplinary and wide audience will be able to use the materials presented. As an example the book chapters will address health policies issues, planning health services, epidemiology and disease modelling, home-care modelling, logistics in health care, capacity planning, quality and appropriateness.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-viii
Workforce management based on forecasted demand....Pages 1-11
Operating rooms scheduling under uncertainty....Pages 13-32
Idealised design and modelling of alternatives to hospital care....Pages 33-50
A coordination model for enhancing research on rare diseases....Pages 51-66
Integrating simulation and risk-based sensitivity analysis methods in hospital emergency department design....Pages 67-82
Technical and scale efficiencies of Catholic hospitals: Does a system value of stewardship matter?....Pages 83-101
Optimal allocation of urban nuclei to hospital birth centres in a geographical region....Pages 103-120
The nurse-to-patient assignment problem in Home Care services....Pages 121-139
Prioritizing health care interventions: A multicriteria resource allocation model to inform the choice of community care programmes....Pages 141-154
An analysis of the financial statements of Italian health care providers through correlation-based networks....Pages 155-171
Using data envelopment analysis for formative evaluation of radiotherapy services: An exploratory study....Pages 173-190
A simulation-based decision support tool to analyze clinical pathways in hospital....Pages 191-211
Patient mix optimisation for inpatient planning with multiple resources....Pages 213-236

---

The most difficult part of making decisions in the health care field on all levels (national, regional, institutional, patient) is linked to the very complexity of the system itself, to the intrinsic uncertainty involved and its dynamic nature. This requires not only the ability to analyze and interpret a large amount of information but also arrange it so that it becomes a cognitive base for appropriate decision-making. Moreover, decisions in the health care field are subjected to many challenges and constraints: fast change and uncertain outcomes, aging population, increasing citizen expectations, equity considerations and limited resources. Operations research, statistical and economic-related quantitative methods supply these decisions making tools and methodology. The contributed book presents a collection of applications to concrete situations detailing the problem area, the methodology employed, the implementation and results. Each topic addressed in the book will be structured in such a way that an interdisciplinary and wide audience will be able to use the materials presented. As an example the book chapters will address health policies issues, planning health services, epidemiology and disease modelling, home-care modelling, logistics in health care, capacity planning, quality and appropriateness.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-viii
Workforce management based on forecasted demand....Pages 1-11
Operating rooms scheduling under uncertainty....Pages 13-32
Idealised design and modelling of alternatives to hospital care....Pages 33-50
A coordination model for enhancing research on rare diseases....Pages 51-66
Integrating simulation and risk-based sensitivity analysis methods in hospital emergency department design....Pages 67-82
Technical and scale efficiencies of Catholic hospitals: Does a system value of stewardship matter?....Pages 83-101
Optimal allocation of urban nuclei to hospital birth centres in a geographical region....Pages 103-120
The nurse-to-patient assignment problem in Home Care services....Pages 121-139
Prioritizing health care interventions: A multicriteria resource allocation model to inform the choice of community care programmes....Pages 141-154
An analysis of the financial statements of Italian health care providers through correlation-based networks....Pages 155-171
Using data envelopment analysis for formative evaluation of radiotherapy services: An exploratory study....Pages 173-190
A simulation-based decision support tool to analyze clinical pathways in hospital....Pages 191-211
Patient mix optimisation for inpatient planning with multiple resources....Pages 213-236
....