Using waiting line when check-out busy

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Katherine Lourie asked Jul 5, '16 Matthew Gillespie commented Nov 4, '16

Using waiting line when check-out busy

I am trying to have patients wait in a waiting line (taken from queuing location in library) in front of check-out desk when it is busy. However, the patients who have to wait then won't go to the next step in the patient track. The ones that have to wait in line keep saying "waiting for room" after they do check-out. I set the patient track as "first available" for the patient destination when going to check-out, so it is check-out desk first and then the waiting line if the desk is busy. Is there another way I should use the queuing line so it just temporarily holds the patients?

Software Version:

FlexSim 16.1.0

flexsim hc 5.0 healthcare wait checkout

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Answer 1 · 2016-07-05T23:48:03Z

Matthew Gillespie answered Jul 5, '16 Matthew Gillespie commented Nov 4, '16

You actually can use the First Available option in the Based on Destination Status pickoption. Here's a model where it's working. But it's kind of awkward in this situation because if the patient goes to the Waiting Line then you need to have a separate activity(s) to get the patient from the waiting line to the registration. (Those patients get stuck in the example model since I didn't include the extra waiting line -> registration logic).

The easiest way to do this is to just tell the waiting line to accept walking patients that don't have another destination. You can toggle this option in the Entrance Criteria of Patient Queuing objects. So click on the waiting line, open the Entrance Criteria panel in Quick Properties, click the properties button and then change the NO to a YES.

This example model shows it in action. Now the patients automatically walk to the waiting room if the registration desk is unavailable, and then resume walking to the desk when it becomes available.

entrancecriteria.png (11.9 KiB)

waitinglineexample.fsm (64.8 KiB)

firstavailableexample.fsm (67.9 KiB)

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Katherine Lourie commented · Jul 06, 2016 at 12:33 PM

Thanks for sharing these models! So just to be sure I understand, the "waitinglineexample" model works and is different from the "firstavailable" because the patient destination is just registration area? I see that the waiting lines in both models have been changed to YES in the entrance criteria. So should I not use the first available option for patient destination and I should just send them to the registration area?

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Matthew Gillespie ♦♦ Katherine Lourie commented · Jul 06, 2016 at 03:36 PM

Only the waiting line model has the YES option. But either way the patients in the first available model get stuck at the line. This is because if the first available option sends the patient to the waiting line that activity then ends. The patient doesn't know that he's supposed to then go to the registration. You'd have to add another activity that checks if the patient is at the waiting line and if so then try to go to the registration.

So yes, I'm recommending you just send them straight to the registration, but set the waiting line to accept walking patients who can't get to their assigned destination and make sure the waiting line is connected up in the flowchart. This way The patient immediately tries to go to the registration, if it's unavailable the waiting line lets him in, but the patient is still on the same activity and is still trying to get to the registration. As soon as it opens up he'll then resume walking to the registration and then the activity will finish.

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Amira Khablein Matthew Gillespie ♦♦ commented · Nov 03, 2016 at 08:31 PM

This is really great information-- I have a spin-off questions regarding if I want patients to go to a waiting room if the line and registration desk are full. Do I set the waiting room to accept walking patients who can't get to their assigned destination and then they will go to the line when there is space?

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Answer 2 · 2016-07-05T23:24:16Z

Adrian Haws answered Jul 5, '16 Adrian Haws rolled back Jul 5, '16

I'm not sure exactly how your model is set up, but when I tried using "first available" it did the same thing for me. So instead, I just set the first travel activity to go to the Waiting Line, followed by a travel activity to the Reception Desk. This then seems to work fine. Take a look at the sample model and let us know if it works for your model's needs.

hc-waiting-line-3.fsm (97.2 KiB)

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