Do you feel as though you are in a constant struggle trying to balance cost and quality at your organization? Are you making decisions based on your intuition, but are searching for the science to confirm these decisions? As queuing theorists might say, get in line. You're not alone.

Queuing theory is a powerful tool that helps industries from banking to airports to the Internet figure out the relationship between random customer demand and fixed capacity. Now hospitals are beginning to use it to uncork chronic bottlenecks in the flow of patients in the ED, the OR, and elsewhere. And the results are often dramatic: saving time, increasing revenue, and increasing staff and patient satisfaction. But queuing theory is not monolithic. There are different models designed to solve different types of problems. The key to success is applying the right model in the right setting.  

IHI is pleased to announce a two-day seminar, Applying Queuing Theory to Health Care: Managing Random Demand in a Fixed Capacity Environment, taught by Dr. Eugene Litvak. This seminar will introduce several different queuing theory models, and you will learn how to apply the various models to the right settings. During this participation-based seminar, you'll complete multiple exercises on applying these models to real health care problems. The practice exercises you complete during this two-day seminar will better equip you to solve your organization’s unique challenges.