Prioritizing Internal Production on MRI Waiting List Management: An Optimization Model

This research intends to estimate the optimal monthly Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) production in a Portuguese public hospital. A time horizon of three years, containing detailed information about the ideal amount of daily production, is included in the evaluation. The objective is to minimize yearly MRI exams cost and maximize the internal production to gradually reduce the response time, which will consequently decrease the waiting list for MRI exams. The current waiting list in the hospital under-study is around 11,4 months, a long response time compared to the 90 days maximum waiting time pre-established by the Portuguese National Health Service (NHS). The results obtained through the developed linear programing model revealed that the under-study hospital must keep the internal and external production on its maximum level for 17 months to reach the expected waiting list length of 90 days. Given that the demand is higher than production capacity, the model exposed that external production will not be totally extinct for a period longer than three months during the analyzed period.