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An analytical study of queues in medical sector

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Abstract

In general, we do not like to wait but each of us has spent a great deal of time waiting in lines even in medical sector also and queuing has become a symbol of inefficiency of a hospital. Managing the length of the line is one of the challenges facing most hospitals. A few of factors that are responsible for long waiting lines or delays in providing services are lack of passion of hospital staff and overloading of available doctors as they are attached in more than one clinic etc. This paper is based on the consideration that most of these problems can be managed by using queuing model to measure the waiting line performances as average arrival rate of patients, average service rate of patients, system utilization etc. The purpose of this study is to provide insight of general background of queuing theory, and how queuing theory can be used by policy makers to increase efficiency of services and to improve the quality of care of patients in hospitals, also understanding cost factor for getting optimum profit.

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Correspondence to Rashmi Agarwal.

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Agarwal, R., Singh, B.K. An analytical study of queues in medical sector. OPSEARCH 55, 268–287 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12597-017-0324-7

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