Designing eye outpatient clinics using patient flow data: a graph-theoretic framework for facility layout planning

Background Facility layout planning plays a critical role in healthcare delivery, as spatial design directly influences patient flow, operational efficiency, safety, and patient experience. In outpatient settings—particularly eye clinics where patients often undergo multiple sequential diagnostic tests—inefficient layouts can increase patient fatigue, staff workload, and safety risks. Despite its importance, data-driven methodologies for outpatient clinic layout planning remain limited. Methods This study developed a graph-theoretic framework for facility layout planning in an eye specialist outpatient clinic within a public hospital. Patient visit data were analyzed to quantify movement patterns and interaction frequencies between service stations. These interactions were represented as a weighted adjacency matrix, from which a maximal planar graph was constructed using a modified greedy heuristic algorithm to approximate optimal spatial connectivity. Clinical and operational input from the hospital team was incorporated to ensure functional relevance. The resulting planar graph was converted into block layout designs that accounted for both workflow requirements and practical design constraints. Results Analysis of patient flows revealed strong connectivity among key service stations involved in visual assessment, diagnostic testing, consultation, and discharge. Two alternative block layouts were developed. The first featured a linear, sequential configuration suitable for clinics with existing structural constraints. The second employed a centralized consultation-core design intended for new facilities, emphasizing connectivity, flexibility, and efficient patient circulation. Both designs were informed by real patient journeys and refined through stakeholder engagement. Conclusions By integrating patient flow data with graph-theoretic modeling and clinical input, this study demonstrates a practical approach to informing outpatient clinic layout planning. The framework identifies high-priority adjacency relationships from observed patient journeys and translates these into candidate block-layout configurations through stakeholder-informed design. The resulting layouts are planning concepts rather than validated geometric floor plans. Although applied to an eye outpatient clinic, the framework can be adaptable to other outpatient settings where patients require multiple sequential investigations.