Patient choice analysis and demand prediction for a health care diagnostics company
Document Type
Journal article
Source Publication
European Journal of Operational Research
Publication Date
5-16-2016
Volume
251
Issue
1
First Page
198
Last Page
205
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Keywords
OR in health services, Laboratory services, Patient choice, Demand prediction, Location
Abstract
This paper describes a case study for a medical diagnostic laboratory service provider to model the behavior of patients when choosing a patient service centre for their medical tests and to estimate future demand volume. A tool developed based on our methodology allows the management of the diagnostic services to experiment with locations and capacities for locating or relocating service centres. In addition to the focal firm, the methodology considers the impact of decisions on another service provider and hospital laboratories located in the same area. The methodology identifies the most significant service centre attractiveness factors. Our models are validated from different perspectives and show good predictive capability. This case study is used to draw a number of lessons for applying these types of models to other similar services in order to assist other applications.
DOI
10.1016/j.ejor.2015.10.055
Print ISSN
03772217
E-ISSN
18726860
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.
Full-text Version
Publisher’s Version
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Zhang, Y., Liang, L., Liu, E., Chen, C., & Atkinse, D. (2016). Patient choice analysis and demand prediction for a health care diagnostics company. European Journal of Operational Research, 251(1), 198-205. doi: 10.1016/j.ejor.2015.10.055