Q: I am looking to improve flow in the emergency room at my hospital; in the ER we are dealing with non-emergency patients, full-trauma patients, and patients experiencing chest pain. We need to do multiple routings and multiple-queuing to be able to process all these people and at the same time allow time for making the wrong determination. Will you be discussing a queuing theory model that will address this type of situation?

A: Yes. If patients come into the ER with situations of varying severity, there is a queuing model that takes into account varying priorities.  Some patients due to their higher level of acuity will have a priority in the service and will be put in the front of the queue, rather than waiting to be served in the order they arrived. But, there is no special model for re-triage.

Q: Will models that cover sequential queues cover situations where there is a wait downstream that affects the way it’s impacted upstream as well subsequent to that?

A: No, each specific event should be considered individually. The incoming flow to the second stage should be calculated as an outgoing flow from the first stage. If there is a process of accumulating the queue, then it should it done before data is entered for a second stage; this will not be done automatically if there’s been a buffer in between. An analysis of an entire hospital using queuing theory models should be done in stages.  

Q: I am interested in the interaction between different departments within a hospital and how queuing theory models may be applied to each differently. Is this seminar going to talk about the interface between several departments and how queuing theory maybe applied differently?

A: Definitely; we will be considering the interrelations between different hospital departments which is a critical part of using queuing theory.  However, we will not studying a queuing theory model that describes several departments simultaneously.

Q: Will we be required to have data from our organization in order to participate in this seminar?

A: No, you will not be required to bring data to the seminar. Prework for this seminar will include some warm-up exercises to get your brains moving and used to some of the concepts and notations you’ll be  using during the seminar. You’ll also be sent a few suggested readings prior to the seminar.       

Q:  What books or articles do you recommend as a primer for the Applying Queuing Theory to Health Care seminar?

A: As a reminder, attendees of this seminar must possess a basic understanding of algebra, exponentials, and factorials. We also suggest that you read the following readings prior to the seminar: "Queue Fever: Part 1" and "Queue Fever: Part 2", for a discussion on how mathematics can be a powerful tool for managing random demand in a fixed capacity environment. Dr. Litvak recently spoke with ACP Hospitalist about using queuing theory as a tool for improving hospital efficiency. Read this article and find out why queuing theory is such a critical tool. A workbook with practice problems and solutions will be provided onsite at the seminar and you will be provided with a few additional resources and links to the free software packages during the seminar.