Academic Journal
Outpatient appointment scheduling with decision‐dependent unpunctual arrivals.
| Title: | Outpatient appointment scheduling with decision‐dependent unpunctual arrivals. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Zhou, Shenghai1,2 (AUTHOR), Pang, Shuo3 (AUTHOR) haiyueyu2022@163.com, Yu, Haiyue4,5,6 (AUTHOR) haiyueyu2022@163.com, Zeng, Yushu7 (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Decision Sciences. Sep2026, p1. 24p. 8 Illustrations. |
| Subject Terms: | *Scheduling, *Empirical research, *Mathematical optimization, Punctuality, Metaheuristic algorithms |
| Abstract: | This article investigates appointment scheduling with stochastic service times (exogenous uncertainty) and schedule‐dependent unpunctual arrivals (endogenous uncertainty). First, our empirical study confirms that patients exhibit unpunctual behavior that varies across different age categories, visit types, and departments. More importantly, the empirical results document a statistically significant association between appointment time and patient unpunctuality. Second, we develop a mathematical formulation of the problem within a stochastic‐optimization framework considering schedule‐dependent uncertainties. The empirically observed appointment‐time‐specific arrival pattern is incorporated as a planning input. We confirm the differentiability property of the objective function and that its derivative is uniformly bounded. Building upon this result, we obtain an unbiased estimator of the gradient for the objective function, enabling us to design a gradient‐based optimization approach. To further enhance optimization performance and avoid local optima, we integrate gradient‐based local refinement with a curvature‐informed Variable Neighborhood Search (VNS) procedure, resulting in a hybrid solution method. Finally, numerical experiments demonstrate the computational efficiency of the proposed method and show that appointment‐time‐dependent unpunctuality can materially affect optimal schedule structures. In particular, different unpunctuality profiles can lead to distinct scheduling arrangements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Decision Sciences is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Business Source Index |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Outpatient appointment scheduling with decision‐dependent unpunctual arrivals. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Zhou%2C+Shenghai%22">Zhou, Shenghai</searchLink><relatesTo>1,2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Pang%2C+Shuo%22">Pang, Shuo</searchLink><relatesTo>3</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> haiyueyu2022@163.com</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Yu%2C+Haiyue%22">Yu, Haiyue</searchLink><relatesTo>4,5,6</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> haiyueyu2022@163.com</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Zeng%2C+Yushu%22">Zeng, Yushu</searchLink><relatesTo>7</relatesTo> (AUTHOR) – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Decision+Sciences%22">Decision Sciences</searchLink>. Sep2026, p1. 24p. 8 Illustrations. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Scheduling%22">Scheduling</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Empirical+research%22">Empirical research</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mathematical+optimization%22">Mathematical optimization</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Punctuality%22">Punctuality</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Metaheuristic+algorithms%22">Metaheuristic algorithms</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: This article investigates appointment scheduling with stochastic service times (exogenous uncertainty) and schedule‐dependent unpunctual arrivals (endogenous uncertainty). First, our empirical study confirms that patients exhibit unpunctual behavior that varies across different age categories, visit types, and departments. More importantly, the empirical results document a statistically significant association between appointment time and patient unpunctuality. Second, we develop a mathematical formulation of the problem within a stochastic‐optimization framework considering schedule‐dependent uncertainties. The empirically observed appointment‐time‐specific arrival pattern is incorporated as a planning input. We confirm the differentiability property of the objective function and that its derivative is uniformly bounded. Building upon this result, we obtain an unbiased estimator of the gradient for the objective function, enabling us to design a gradient‐based optimization approach. To further enhance optimization performance and avoid local optima, we integrate gradient‐based local refinement with a curvature‐informed Variable Neighborhood Search (VNS) procedure, resulting in a hybrid solution method. Finally, numerical experiments demonstrate the computational efficiency of the proposed method and show that appointment‐time‐dependent unpunctuality can materially affect optimal schedule structures. In particular, different unpunctuality profiles can lead to distinct scheduling arrangements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Decision Sciences is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1111/deci.70049 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 24 StartPage: 1 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Scheduling Type: general – SubjectFull: Empirical research Type: general – SubjectFull: Mathematical optimization Type: general – SubjectFull: Punctuality Type: general – SubjectFull: Metaheuristic algorithms Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Outpatient appointment scheduling with decision‐dependent unpunctual arrivals. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Zhou, Shenghai – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Pang, Shuo – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Yu, Haiyue – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Zeng, Yushu IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 30 M: 09 Text: Sep2026 Type: published Y: 2026 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 00117315 Titles: – TitleFull: Decision Sciences Type: main |
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