Designing outpatient appointment systems with patient characteristics: a case study

Appointment system design based on patient characteristics has become a recent issue. This is investigated in a multi-facility system with the presence of second consultation using the discrete event simulation methodology. Different appointment systems are simulated, combining appointment rules and patient sequences with the adjustment of appointment intervals based on patient characteristics. The results show that the interval adjustment made on patient classifications is more successful than sequencing patients without making a time adjustment. The study identifies some efficient appointment systems for a given situation in relation to the trade-off between patient waiting time and physician idle time, while emphasising the importance of not excluding a second consultation in designing appointment systems.