A patient group based business planning model for a surgical specialty

In this contribution we present an approach for a business planning model for a surgical specialty, based on modelling of all patient processes as well as of the dynamics involved in planning and managing resources. An important basis of the model is the description of the processes of all patient groups served by the specialty. The data for this description are based on the expert knowledge of medical specialists and administrative data from the hospital information system. Furthermore, the planning of scheduled patients and the handling of emergency patients in the model takes into account the workload generated by leading resources, such as operating theatres, for following resources, such as beds. The model allows, therefore, decision support for resource management issues as well as process design issues.