Integrating systematic layout planning with fuzzy constraint theory to design and optimize the facility layout for operating theatre in hospitals

Because of the competition of the medical market and the importance of the operaing theatre (OT), the OT process efficiency becomes a hot spot problem in hospital management. The OT facility layout is not only a problem about cost reduction, but also a great contribute to the efficiency of OT process. However, the facility layout optimization of OT was always ignored in the past decades. In order to become more competitive in the medical market, the facility layout of OT should be considered as an essential section in early design phase. To overcome these problems, this paper proposed a approach for designing and optimizing the facility layout of OT in hospitals. First, systematic layout planning (SLP) is applied to design the layout of OT based on the logistics and non-logistics relationships. The SLP is a tool which is used to arrange a workplace in a plant by locating two areas with high frequency and logical relationships close to each other. After that, fuzzy constraint theory is proposed for comprehensively evaluate the layout schemes. Fuzzy constraint theory uses objective function and constraint conditions for solving the problem which involves uncertainty. After designing and optimizing the facility layout of OT in Shanghai East Hospital, we can get the optimal layout plan. The aim of this study was development a new approach to design and optimize the facility layout for OT. This research results are able to help the hospital managers to adopt more modern management approaches in every day practise.