Question

give an example of a M/M/I queue for a process in a health care facility where patients will be in a queue. What is the goal? What is your solution?

Answer 1

Example of M/M/1 queue in healthcare system can be the CT scan room in the hospital where the specialized machinery and staff is available to service the patients. There is only one room where CT scan is done and patients wait outside the room forming a queue.

Goal of this system is to minimize the time taken by each patient in the system.

Solution to this problem can be:

1. Reduce the time taken to service one patient in the CT scan room. While the CT scan will take the required amount of time, other procedures like preparation and report making can be standardized so that time taken is reduced.

2. Patient waiting in queue should be given continuous information about the queue and waiting parameters. For example, the patient should always know his number in queue and what is the number of patient being serviced.