Implementation of Value Stream Mapping and Mathematical Model for Patient Scheduling in Radiotherapy Treatment
摘要
This paper is based on the improvement of patient scheduling in the radiotherapy department. We started with the application of Value Stream Mapping (VSM) to the entire patient flow in curative cases. The scheduling plan in radiotherapy treatment is necessary for curative cases, whereas in the palliative cases, it may not be required to the same extent. The VSM analysis of the patient scheduling process revealed that there are several operations in the process that are causing delays. The patients are waiting too long to get into several treatments called fractions. In this context, VSM can be used to map out the operations involved in the patient scheduling process as well as identify any bottlenecks or inefficiencies. As a solution, we optimized the scheduling plan through linear programming, thereby synchronizing simulation, contouring, dose calculation, and plan approve operations of radiotherapy care. The goal of our formulation was to find the optimal patient schedule that minimizes the maximum completion time across all patients, while also factoring in a penalty score.