Reducing Patient Waiting Time at an Ambulatory Surgical Center

This chapter describes a methodology to reduce patient waiting time in a for-profit ambulatory surgical center. Patients in this facility are scheduled in advance for the various operations, and yet operations start late, last longer than expected creating undesired delays. Although this facility is limited to ambulatory surgery, it provides a large number of different surgeries, which are scheduled using “block” scheduling approach. The methodology presented generates a more accurate schedule by creating better time estimates for the operations and with lower variability. The effect of sequencing the surgeries, such that the ones with lower variability are performed earlier in the day, is also discussed. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60960-872-9.ch012