MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
OPERATIONS RESEARCH CENTER
FALL 2004 SEMINAR SERIES

DATE

Thursday, September 30, 2004

LOCATION: Room E40-298           TIME: 4:15pm

Reception immediately following in the
Philip M. Morse Reading Room, E40-106

SPEAKER

Professor Linda Green
Armand G. Erpf Professor
Columbia Business School

TITLE

Emergency Room Overcrowding: An OR Analysis

ABSTRACT

     Since 9/11, emergency rooms have come under closer scrutiny as the question of hospitals’ ability to adequately respond in the face of terrorist attacks has become a critical national issue. Yet, in recent years, there have been reports in the media of increased ER overcrowding and ambulance diversions.

     This talk will illustrate how many of the reasons for problems in emergency responsiveness are due to capacity management policies used by hospital managers and policy-makers which are based on a lack of understanding of service system dynamics. Examples will be drawn from the areas of bed planning and management, physician and other personnel staffing and diagnostic facility management to show how existing policies not only compromise patient access to needed hospital resources, but may not even be cost efficient. These examples will also illustrate some of the challenges in the development and use of OR models to identify and implement improved policies and procedures.