Research Reports from the Department of Operations

Document Type

Report

Publication Date

9-1-1974

Abstract

A research group, comprised of faculty and graduate students from the School of Medicine and from the Department of Operations Research, Case Western Reserve University, investigated ways to alleviate the shortage and maldistribution of surgical anesthesiologists. The three project stages were: survey and detailed analysis of data gathered at the Veteran's Administration Hospital of Cleveland; the construction and validation of a computer simulation model to study with speed, economy and non-human experimentation alternative practice modes; and the establishing of methodology for selecting an optimal anesthesia team configuration. The methodology provides design charts involving trade-offs between alternative personnel configurations and a measure of the quality of service to the patient. Service quality is measured in terms of the unavailability of anesthesia personnel for certain tasks. The Veterans Administration Hospital was the data source used for generating realistic team configuration selection strategies in the simulation environment. This report documents the general project mission, the data base and methodologies used, as well as the study results and conclusions.

Keywords

Operations research, Anesthesiology--United States, Medical personnel--Supply and demand--United States, Simulation methods, Health services administration--Mathematical models, Anesthesiologists--United States, Computer simulation, Veterans' hospitals--Ohio--Cleveland

Publication Title

Technical Memorandums from the Department of Operations, School of Management, Case Western Reserve University

Issue

Technical memorandum no. 342

Rights

This work is in the public domain and may be freely downloaded for personal or academic use

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