This article introduces analytical techniques and a decision support tool to
support capacity assessment and case mix planning (CMP) approaches previously
created for hospitals. First, an optimization model is proposed to analyse the
impact of making a change to an existing case mix. This model identifies how
other patient types should be altered proportionately to the changing levels of
hospital resource availability. Then we propose multi-objective decision-making
techniques to compare and critique competing case mix solutions obtained. The
proposed techniques are embedded seamlessly within an Excel Visual Basic for
Applications (VBA) personal decision support tool (PDST), for performing
informative quantitative assessments of hospital capacity. The PDST reports
informative metrics of difference and reports the impact of case mix
modifications on the other types of patient present. The techniques developed
in this article provide a bridge between theory and practice that is currently
missing and provides further situational awareness around hospital capacity.Comment: 20 pages, 11 tables, 6 figure