Determining Optimal Allocation of Naval Obstetric Resources with Linear Programming
Abstract
The U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery allocates funding for obstetric staffing resources such as doctors, nurses, and midwives. Furthermore, these resources operate within a fixed number of labor/delivery and postpartum rooms, thereby establishing a theoretical maximum capacity of delivery volume. This study identifies the expected delivery volume created by the facility capacity of four major naval military treatment facilities (MTF) within the United States. Based on the calculated volume, this thesis utilizes a linear programming model to determine the optimum mix of doctors, nurses, and midwives to achieve the target delivery numbers. This is achieved while concurrently incorporating all relevant constraints within military medical treatment facilities. As a result, the model allows hospitals to meet target delivery volumes while simultaneously utilizing their allocated resources in the most effective manner. Additionally, the model can accommodate changes in the inputs and constraints and can be used to provide support for similar resource allocation decision problems.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA620438
Entities
People
- Maurice F. O'moore
- Robert P. Eidson
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School