Scheduling a multiple operating room system: a simulation approach.

The advantages and disadvantages of various schedules for operating rooms are determined by the use of a Simscript simulation program. Input variables consist of actual data or are generated from their probability distributions by the Monte Carlo technique. The simulator assigns operating rooms, anesthetists, and nurses for each case when they are available. A report of the performance of the system, which may be obtained at any desired periodic cycle, includes idle time and waiting time for facilities and personnel. The simulator, applied here to a suite of operating rooms in a specialty hospital for elective surgery, can, with minor modifications, be used to describe a general system of operating rooms.