3.

Process Flow Measures

Problem 3.4 MBPF

1

A hospital emergency room (ER) is currently organized so

that all patients register through an initial check-in process. At
his or her turn, each patient is seen by a doctor and then exits
the process, either with a prescription or with admission to the
hospital. Currently 55 people per hour arrive at the ER, 10% of
who are admitted to the hospital. On average, 7 people are
waiting to be registered and 34 are registered and waiting to
see a doctor. The registration process takes, on average, 2
minutes per patient. Among patients who receive
prescriptions, average time spent with a doctor is 5 minutes.
Among those admitted to the hospital, average time is 30
minutes. On average, how long does a patient spend in the
ER? Assume the process to be stable; that is, average inflow
rate equals average outflow rate.

3. Process Flow Measures

Directions
2

o) Draw the flow process chart

b) On average how long a patient spend in ER?
c) On average how many patients are in ER?
Hints:
Compute flow time in buffer 1
Compute average activity time of Doctor
Compute the average flow time in this process
Compute average flow time for a simple prescription patient
Compute average flow time for a potential admission patient
Compute number of patients in Doctor activity
Compute the average number of patients in the process.

3. Process Flow Measures

Flow Time
Potential admits
10%
Buffer 1
R =55/hr
I=7

Registration

Buffer 2

Doctor

I = 34
T1 = 5min
T2 = 30min

T = 2 min

90%
Simple Prescription

7.6
37.1
7.5

TD= .9(5)+.1(30) = 7.5

54.2
TPA= 7.6+2+37.1+30 = 76.7
TSP= 7.6+2+37.1+5 = 51.7

TP= .1(76.7)+.9(51.7) = 54.2

3. Process Flow Measures

Inventory
4

Potential admits
10%
Buffer 1
R =55/hr

Registration

I=7

Buffer 2

Doctor

I = 34
T1 = 5min
T2 = 30min

T = 2 min

1.8
6.9

90%
Simple Prescription

3. Process Flow Measures

The Littles Law

5

Potential admits
10%
Buffer 1
R =55/hr
I=7

Registration

Buffer 2

Doctor

I = 34
T1 = 5min
T2 = 30min

T = 2 min

90%
Simple Prescription

49.7
Recheck

I = 49.7, R = 55. Is our T= 54.2 correct?

RT= I
R = 55/60 = 0.916667 minutes
RT = I T=I/R = 49.7/0.916667 = 54.2