Dynamic Resectorization to Improve Utility of Healthcare Systems

Abstract This study discusses a regional healthcare system including several hospitals with different characteristics. We define a utility function for the system based on the sectorization concept to form a balance between hospitals in terms of important outputs such as waiting times and demands. Since the determined system is dynamic, the balance state is lost over time; consequently, resectorization is done over time. We simulate the system utilizing the data of a case study. We characterize multiple periods and calculate the utility of the system's current state. We design resectorization scenarios based on boosting the capacity and quality of hospitals. Numerical results demonstrate that substantial improvement of utility with resectorization is achievable.