Minimizing waiting time under precedence constraints in health examinations

Abstract

The long waiting time between examinations is a serious issue in hospitals. This study explores how precedence constraints affect waiting times for examinees in health examination scheduling. We employ a 0-1 integer programming model to schedule examinations while ensuring the conditions for the number of examinees who can be examined concurrently and the precedence constraints between examinations are met. In the numerical analysis, we varied the precedence constraints based on the layout of the examination center and analyzed their effect on the total waiting time of the examinees. Based on these results, we provide recommendations for guiding examinees to achieve more efficient health examinations with reduced waiting times.