Development, test and comparison of two Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis(MCDA) models: A case of healthcare infrastructure location

When planning a new development, location decisions have always been a major issue. This paper examines and compares two modelling methods used to inform a healthcare infrastructure location decision. Two Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) models were developed to support the optimisation of this decision-making process, within a National Health Service (NHS) organisation, in the UK. The proposed model structure is based on seven criteria (environment and safety, size, total cost, accessibility, design, risks and population profile) and 28 sub-criteria. First, Evidential Reasoning (ER) was used to solve the model, then, the processes and results were compared with the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). It was established that using ER or AHP led to the same solutions. However, the scores between the alternatives were significantly different; which impacted the stakeholders‟ decision-making. As the processes differ according to the model selected, ER or AHP, it is relevant to establish the practical and managerial implications for selecting one model or the other and providing evidence of which models best fit this specific environment. To achieve an optimum operational decision it is argued, in this study, that the most transparent and robust framework is achieved by merging ER process with the pair-wise comparison, an element of AHP. This paper makes a defined contribution by developing and examining the use of MCDA models, to rationalise new healthcare infrastructure location, with the proposed model to be used for future decision. Moreover, very few studies comparing different MCDA techniques were found, this study results enable practitioners to consider even further the modelling characteristics to ensure the development of a reliable framework, even if this means applying a hybrid approach

Crashworthiness capability of jute and glass fibre reinforced epoxy tubes under quasi-static loading condition for automotive application

During last few years, the interest in using natural fibers as reinforcement in polymers has increased dramatically. Natural fibers are not only strong and lightweight but also relatively very cheap. This study examined the potential utilization of jute in the crash energy absorption. A combination of hand layup and vacuum bladder technique was kused to search the influence of utilizing jute fibre on crashworthiness parameters of composite materials. To improve the mechanical properties, jute fiber was hybridized with glass fiber. In this work, there are two main parts of study. Firstly, it is to investigate the effect of cross-sectional shapes, number of layers and temperature treatment on the progressive deformation of jute/epoxy composite tubes. Secondly, the suitable type of geometry was chosen to study the effect of hybrid (jute-glass/epoxy) onto the structural designs. All the tests were undergone quasi-static axial crushing of 10 mm/min. Their peak load (Pmax), mean load (Pm), energy absorption (EA) and specific energy absorption (SEA) were discussed in detail. In the study of types of five geometrical shapes (corrugated, circular, hexagonal, octagonal and decagonal cross sectional) with different number of layers (two, three and four layers). It is found that the corrugated geometric shape with three layers (RHS) gives the best energy absorption (30.92 J/g) in specific energy absorption parameter compared to other geometries used in present study. For the temperature treatment, the results showed that the post-curing by gradual temperature treatment (TT) improved the peak load by decreased with 55% as compared to similar circular specimen without temperature treatment (No TT). From the test, it is found that the substitution of one layer of jute fibre with one layer of glass fibre resulted in an improvement in the crashworthiness parameters than layers jute. The best result was obtained when hybrid jute-glass was used, where the energy absorption and specific energy absorption was improved by about 43% and 31%, respectively

Taxonomic classification of planning decisions in health care: a review of the state of the art in OR/MS

We provide a structured overview of the typical decisions to be made in resource capacity planning and control in health care, and a review of relevant OR/MS articles for each planning decision. The contribution of this paper is twofold. First, to position the planning decisions, a taxonomy is presented. This taxonomy provides health care managers and OR/MS researchers with a method to identify, break down and classify planning and control decisions. Second, following the taxonomy, for six health care services, we provide an exhaustive specification of planning and control decisions in resource capacity planning and control. For each planning and control decision, we structurally review the key OR/MS articles and the OR/MS methods and techniques that are applied in the literature to support decision making

Designated auditing agency handbook: Ministry of Health auditor handbook (revised 2015)

Introduction: This handbook outlines the Ministry of Health\u27s requirements of designated auditing agencies for auditing and audit reporting for the certification of health care services under the Health and Disability Services (Safety) Act 2001. The handbook also gives providers of health care services a guide to specific requirements for various types of audits.     &nbsp

A taxonomy for emergency service station location problem

The emergency service station (ESS) location problem has been widely studied in the literature since 1970s. There has been a growing interest in the subject especially after 1990s. Various models with different objective functions and constraints have been proposed in the academic literature and efficient solution techniques have been developed to provide good solutions in reasonable times. However, there is not any study that systematically classifies different problem types and methodologies to address them. This paper presents a taxonomic framework for the ESS location problem using an operations research perspective. In this framework, we basically consider the type of the emergency, the objective function, constraints, model assumptions, modeling, and solution techniques. We also analyze a variety of papers related to the literature in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the taxonomy and to get insights for possible research directions

Health facility surveys : an introduction

Health facility surveys come in various guises. One dimension in which they vary is their motivation. Some seek to understand better links between households and providers. Others seek to understand better provider behavior and performance. Still others seek to understand the interrelationships between providers, while yet others seek to shed light on the linkages between government and providers. Health facility surveys differ too in the data they collect, in part due to the different motivations. Surveys also vary in the way they collect data, some relying on direct observation, some on record review, and some on interview. Some quality data are collected through clinical vignettes. Facility data have been put to a variety of uses, including planning and budgeting; monitoring, evaluation, and promoting accountability; and research. Lindel and Wagstaff review some of the literature under each heading and offer some conclusions regarding the current state of health facility surveys.Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Public Health Promotion,Health Systems Development&Reform,Early Child and Children's Health,Housing&Human Habitats,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Health Systems Development&Reform,Agricultural Knowledge and Information Systems,Housing&Human Habitats,Health Economics&Finance

The Incremental Cooperative Design of Preventive Healthcare Networks

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of the following article: Soheil Davari, 'The incremental cooperative design of preventive healthcare networks', Annals of Operations Research, first published online 27 June 2017. Under embargo. Embargo end date: 27 June 2018. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10479-017-2569-1.In the Preventive Healthcare Network Design Problem (PHNDP), one seeks to locate facilities in a way that the uptake of services is maximised given certain constraints such as congestion considerations. We introduce the incremental and cooperative version of the problem, IC-PHNDP for short, in which facilities are added incrementally to the network (one at a time), contributing to the service levels. We first develop a general non-linear model of this problem and then present a method to make it linear. As the problem is of a combinatorial nature, an efficient Variable Neighbourhood Search (VNS) algorithm is proposed to solve it. In order to gain insight into the problem, the computational studies were performed with randomly generated instances of different settings. Results clearly show that VNS performs well in solving IC-PHNDP with errors not more than 1.54%.Peer reviewe