Optimizing human resource cost of an emergency hospital using multi-objective Bat algorithm

ABSTRACT

Human resource (HR) optimization has a critical role in effectiveness of hospital management. Due to optimizing, emergency department associated cost is frequently considered as the objective function to seek the best set of HR operating alternatives. In uncertain circumstances, it is so difficult to analyze such types of issues. Through current research, we focused on the cost assessment method and the way to HR optimization in an emergency department. As a novel contribution, we applied a flexible method based on the Bat algorithm which has the ability to differentiate and predict the required employments. Hence, wage cost, penalty of damages may be caused by lack of proper performance and the hospital performance considered as three simultaneous objective functions through the optimization process. Results could reveal the number of employees at each required skills which optimize all objective functions. Applying the proposed method on the Bu-Ali hospital reveals an expectation of more than 24.3% reduction in emergency human resources costs.

KEYWORDS:

• Human resource planning
• healthcare optimization
• emergency department
• computer simulation
• Bat mechanistic algorithm

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Arash Apornak

Arash Apornak is a PhD candidate, Department of Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, South Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

Sadigh Raissi

Sadigh Raissi is an Associate Professor at the Department of Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, South Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

Abbas Keramati

Abbas Keramati is an Associate Professor at the Department of Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, South Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran; School of Industrial Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran and Ted Rogers School of Information Technology Management, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Kaveh Khalili-Damghani

Kaveh Khalili-Damghani is an Associate Professor at the Department of Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, South Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.