Using simulation technique and genetic algorithm to improve the quality care of a hospital emergency department

This report shows how the quality of service at a hospital emergency department (ED) can be improved by utilizing simulation and a genetic algorithm (GA) to appropriately adjust nurses' schedules without hiring additional staff. The simulation model is developed to cover the complete flow for the patient through the ED. The GA is then applied to find a near-optimal nurse schedule based on minimizing the patients' queue time. The data for this research was collected from the ED of Show-Chwan Memorial Hospital in Central Taiwan. After computational analysis and comparisons, we found that by making appropriate adjustments to the nurses' schedules, the patients' queue time is shortened, thereby raising the quality of patient-care and patient-satisfaction. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.