Multi-class appointments in individualized healthcare: Analysis for scheduling rules

In this paper, we consider the problem of scheduling patients for visits at a cancer infusion room throughout a regular day. We suggest the use of high and low patient acuity indicators to account for punctuality and service uncertainties in the scheduling process. These supportive classifications can be used easily by schedulers to allow more efficient, individualized service. Based on patient acuity data and clinical observations, we propose two intuitive though somewhat conflicting scheduling guidelines on a qualitative basis and argue their benefits. We make use of analogies with standard queueing theory and strings of interconnected dynamic systems to introduce two separate surrogate problems allowing analysis of the effects resulting from our scheduling rules on the operation of the infusion room.