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Patient Transport in Hospitals: A Literature Review of Operations Research and Management Science Methods

Tom Lorenz Klein, Clemens Thielen

TL;DR

The paper studies non-emergency intra-hospital patient transport planning and provides the first comprehensive literature review using a five-field notation $\alpha\vert\beta\vert\gamma\vert\delta\vert\epsilon$ to classify problem variants. It combines a systematic review of 22 OR/MS contributions with semi-structured interviews across five hospitals to ground findings in practice. Key contributions include mapping Dial-a-Ride Problem and VRP variants to hospital transport, highlighting gaps in uncertainty handling, data availability, and practical implementation, and outlining a prioritized research agenda. The work emphasizes the potential for integrating patient transport with material handling and broader hospital planning, and calls for public benchmark data and real-world pilots to bridge theory and practice.

Abstract

Most activities in hospitals require the presence of the patient. Delays in patient transport can disrupt operations, potentially resulting in idle staff, underutilized equipment, and postponed procedures, which in turn lead to lost revenue, unnecessary costs across many different areas and departments, and lower patient satisfaction. Consequently, patient transport planning is a central operational task in hospitals. This paper provides the first literature review of Operations Research and Management Science approaches for non-emergency, intra-hospital patient transport. We structure the different patient transport problems considered in the literature according to several main characteristics and introduce a five-field notation that allows for a concise representation of different problem variants. We then analyze the relevant literature with respect to different aspects related to the considered problem variant, the employed modeling and solution techniques, as well as the data used and the level of practical implementation achieved. Based on our literature analysis and semi-structured interviews with hospital practitioners, we compare current hospital practices and the existing literature, identify research gaps, and formulate an agenda for relevant future research.

Patient Transport in Hospitals: A Literature Review of Operations Research and Management Science Methods

TL;DR

The paper studies non-emergency intra-hospital patient transport planning and provides the first comprehensive literature review using a five-field notation to classify problem variants. It combines a systematic review of 22 OR/MS contributions with semi-structured interviews across five hospitals to ground findings in practice. Key contributions include mapping Dial-a-Ride Problem and VRP variants to hospital transport, highlighting gaps in uncertainty handling, data availability, and practical implementation, and outlining a prioritized research agenda. The work emphasizes the potential for integrating patient transport with material handling and broader hospital planning, and calls for public benchmark data and real-world pilots to bridge theory and practice.

Abstract

Most activities in hospitals require the presence of the patient. Delays in patient transport can disrupt operations, potentially resulting in idle staff, underutilized equipment, and postponed procedures, which in turn lead to lost revenue, unnecessary costs across many different areas and departments, and lower patient satisfaction. Consequently, patient transport planning is a central operational task in hospitals. This paper provides the first literature review of Operations Research and Management Science approaches for non-emergency, intra-hospital patient transport. We structure the different patient transport problems considered in the literature according to several main characteristics and introduce a five-field notation that allows for a concise representation of different problem variants. We then analyze the relevant literature with respect to different aspects related to the considered problem variant, the employed modeling and solution techniques, as well as the data used and the level of practical implementation achieved. Based on our literature analysis and semi-structured interviews with hospital practitioners, we compare current hospital practices and the existing literature, identify research gaps, and formulate an agenda for relevant future research.
Paper Structure (26 sections, 8 figures, 5 tables)

This paper contains 26 sections, 8 figures, 5 tables.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Literature search methodology
  3. Modeling approaches and classification
  4. Modeling approaches and relations to vehicle routing problems
  5. Classification of patient transport problems
  6. Fleet characteristics ($\alpha$)
  7. Depot characteristics ($\beta$)
  8. Constraints ($\gamma$)
  9. Problem objective(s) ($\delta$)
  10. Uncertainty ($\epsilon$)
  11. Literature classification and analysis
  12. Transport origins, destinations, and items
  13. Transport fleet, depots, and constraints
  14. Objectives
  15. Uncertainty and uncertainty handling
  16. ...and 11 more sections

Figures (8)

  • Figure 1: PRISMA 2020 flow diagram illustrating our literature search methodology.
  • Figure 2: Distribution of different transport origins/destinations and transported items in the examined papers.
  • Figure 3: Distribution of different fleet characteristics and depot characteristics in the examined papers.
  • Figure 4: Distribution of capacity constraints, time window constraints, and other time-related constraints in the examined papers.
  • Figure 5: Distribution of different objectives ($\delta$) considered in the examined papers ordered as in the five-field notation (WT = waiting time, TT = travel time).
  • ...and 3 more figures