A Generic Simulation Model to Improve Procedure Scheduling in Endoscopy Suites

In 2008 Ontario implemented a screening program for colorectal cancer, which drew attention to the increasing demand for colonoscopies in the province. This trend and the forecasted demand of the new screening program created a need to increase capacity in hospital endoscopy suites. This thesis addresses this need by investigating throughput gains from scheduling according to physician specific procedure durations in endoscopy suites. This is accomplished through the development of a scheduler and a generic discrete event simulation. Case study results show that physician specific scheduling can increase throughput in the endoscopy suite while reducing undertime and only slightly increasing overtime. They further indicate the trade off between a 1:2 and 1:1 physician to room ratio, finding that while a 1:1 ratio increases throughput by 33% over a 1:2 ratio, physicians are 1.5 times more productive under a 1:2 ratio.MAS