Comparison of Two Scheduling Systems

The delays that outpatients have to undergo before getting their medical treatment are often excessively long. The most commonly used patterns of scheduling appointments to patients are classified into three categories: (1) Pure Block Appointment systems, (2) Individual Appointment Systems, and (3) Mixed Block-Individual Appointment Systems. Several analytical studies have been concerned with the comparison of some of these appointment systems, and their highlights are described briefly. There are many other possible ways of assigning appointments to patients; one such way, referred to as the Two-at-a-Time Appointment System, is described. The advantages of the Two-at-a-Time Appointment System over any of the commonly used ones are discussed. Finally, the steady-state waiting time distribution functions that will correspond to the Two-at-a-Time Appointment System and the Individual Appointment System, as applied to the Wilmer Outpatient Clinic, have been obtained and are compared.