Optimization of triage time and sample delivery path in health infrastructure to combat COVID-19
Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management
ISSN: 0969-9988
Article publication date: 1 March 2022
Issue publication date: 1 September 2023
Abstract
Purpose
This study presented the experience of improving the nucleic acid sample collection and transportation service in response to the epidemic. The main purpose is that through intelligent path planning, combined with the time scheduling of sample points, the process of obtaining results to determine the state of COVID-19 patients could be speeding up.
Design/methodology/approach
The research optimized the process, including finding an optimal path to traverse all sample points in the hospital area via intelligent path planning method and standardizing the operation through the time sequence scheduling of each round of support staff to collect and send samples in the hospital area, so as to ensure the shortest time in each round. And the study examines these real-time experiments through retrospective examination.
Findings
The real-time experiments' data showed that the proposed path planning and scheduling model could provide a reliable reference for improving the efficiency of hospital logistics. Testing is a very important part of diagnosis and prompt results are essential. It shows the possibility of applying the shortest-path algorithms to optimize sample collection processes in the hospital and presents the case study that gives the expected outcomes of such a process.
Originality/value
The value of the study lies in the abstraction of a very practical and urgent problem into a TSP. Combining the ant colony algorithm with the genetic algorithm (ACAGA), the performance of path planning is improved. Under the intervention and guidance, the efficiency of hospital regional logistics planning was greatly improved, which may be of greater benefit to critical patients who must go through fever clinic during the epidemic. By detailing how to more rapidly obtain results through engineering method, the paper contributes ideas and plans for practitioners to use. The experience and lessons learned from Tongji Hospital are expected to provide guidance for supporting service measures in national public health infrastructure management and valuable reference for the development of hospitals in other countries or regions.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research is supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (72171092, 71732001, 71821001), Natural Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars of Hubei Province (2021CFA091) and the Major Science and Technology Project of Hubei (No. 2020ACA006). The authors would like to thank those medical staff for providing valuable information for this study.
Citation
Zhou, C., Li, R., Xiong, X., Li, J. and Gao, Y. (2023), "Optimization of triage time and sample delivery path in health infrastructure to combat COVID-19", Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 30 No. 8, pp. 3620-3644. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-10-2021-0877
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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