Date of Award

2013

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Industrial Engineering

First Advisor

Seokcheon Lee

Second Advisor

Mark Lawley

Committee Chair

Seokcheon Lee

Committee Member 1

Mark Lawley

Committee Member 2

Yuehwern Yih

Abstract

Mohs Micrographic Surgery (MMS) is a surgical method used for the excision of aggressive skin cancers in areas of high cosmetic importance, such as the face and hands. The practice has been gaining popularity worldwide for its low recurrence rates and cosmetic results. Current clinics though are plagued by extreme wait times and an overall poor patient experience. In this paper we look to explore this problem by applying systems engineering principles including optimization and scheduling with the goal of improving the patient experience. Currently, little literature exists exploring the difficulties associated with scheduling for MMS clinic which primarily revolve around patient recirculation for an unknown number of repetitions with little predictive ability. By developing a simulation model depicting current clinic operations, we have explored the current practice of clinics through several important performance measures while being able to determine an optimal number of patients to be scheduled. We have also explored the impact of changing re-entrant probability on the nature of the patient schedules. We have developed a set of qualitativescheduling constraints for on-the-fly physician application and a sequential scheduling policy to produce optimal patient schedules for maximizing the patient experience.

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