Abstract.
We deal with a cost-allocation problem arising from sharing a medical service in the presence of queues. We use a standard queuing theory model in a context of several medical procedures, a certain demand for treatment and a maximum average waiting-time guaranteed by the government. We show that the sharing of an operating-theatre to treat patients of different medical disciplines leads to a cost reduction. We then compute an optimal fee per procedure for the use of the operating theatre, based on the Shapley value. Afterwards, considering the recovery time, we characterize the conditions under which the co-operation among treatments has a positive impact on the post-operative costs. Finally, a numerical example, constructed on the basis of real data, is provided to highlight the main features of our model.
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We would like to thank Pedro Pita Barros, Ignacio García-Jurado, Tor Iversen, Rebeca Jimenez, Nicolás Porteiro, and anonymous referees as well as the participants at the XXV Simposio de Análisis Económico (Barcelona), at the XXI Jornadas de la Asociación Española de Economia de la salud (Oviedo), at the Third World Conference of the International Health Economics Association (York) and at the Fifth Spanish Meeting on Game Theory (Sevilla) for their helpful comments. Financial support from the MCyT (BEC 2001-0535), from the Generalitat Valenciana (GV01-371) and from the Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas (IVIE) is gratefully acknowledged. Any remaining errors are the sole responsibility of the authors.
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González, P., Herrero, C. Optimal sharing of surgical costs in the presence of queues. Math Meth Oper Res 59, 435–446 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s001860400350
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s001860400350