Howard County Hospital The Howard County Hospital is assessi

Howard County Hospital

The Howard County Hospital is assessing its Emergency Department (ED) capacity so it knows how to expand as the county population grows. The hospital has the following information about the ED:

                                                                    
On average, nurses need to spend 35 minutes with each patient that comes in. Additionally, physicians need to spend an average of 19 minutes with each patient. Each technician can X-ray up to 5 patients per hour. All patients have to go through one nurse, one physician and the X-ray.

Thereafter, the patients are parsed into two categories: 20% of all patients that come into the ED are trauma victims that need to be placed in a trauma bay. The other 80% of the patients go into normal examination rooms. Each trauma patient spends an average of 30 minutes in a trauma bay before leaving the ED (usually then being admitted to the main part of the hospital), whereas non-trauma patients spend an average of 45 minutes in an examination room before leaving the ED.

1. Suppose on average 50 patients come to the emergency department every hour. What is the implied utilization (in %) at the trauma bays? (Recall there are 3 trauma bays.)

2. Suppose on average 50 patients come to the emergency department every hour. What is the implied utilization at the examination rooms (in %)? (Recall there are 10 examination rooms.)

A Simple Process

Consider the following process that makes customized suits. When an order is placed, measurement is taken, which takes 30 minutes to complete. After taking the measurement, materials are prepared and cut, and this takes one hour. Once the materials are prepared and cut, the materials are sewed. Sewing takes 2.5 hours on average per order. The process operates for 10 hours a day.

a What is the capacity of the process in [suits/day]?

b Assume that the demand for the customized suit is 0.2[suits/hour]. What should the flow rate of the process be in [suits/day]?

c Assume that the demand for the customized suit is 0.5[suits/hour]. What is the implied utilization (in %) of the Sewing stage?

d Assume that the demand for the customized suit is 0.5[suits/hour]. What is the utilization (in %) of the Measuring stage?

Solution

1. Trauma patients per hour = 50*20% = 10

Available trauma bays = 3

Implied utilization = Capacity requested by demand / Available capacity

= 10/3 *100 = 333%

2. Patients that come to ED = 50*80% = 40

Implied utilization = 40/10 *100 = 400%

(a) . Capacity of the proecss utilization:

Measurement = 30 mins

Material preparation and cut = 60 mins

Sewing = 150 mins

Total 240 minutes and available minutes are 10*60 i.e. 600 minutes.

Therefore, capacity of the process is = 240/600 = 2.5 suits per day

(b) Demand = 0.2 suits per hour = 2 suits per day.

Demand time for 2 suits = 240minutes * 2 = 480 minutes.

Available or operating time = 600 minutes.

Cycle time = 600/480 = 1.25

Flow rate = 1/1.25 = 0.8

(c) If demand is 0.5 suits per hour means that 5 suits per day. But available capacity is 2.5 suits per day.

Therefore, implied utilization (in %) of the Sewing stage is 5/2.5 *100 = 200%

(d) the utilization (in %) of the Measuring stage is also 200%