Scheduling Transfer Patients and Assigning Patient Transfer Units in Nova Scotia in Collaboration with Emergency Medical Care Inc. (EMC)

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The purpose of this Engage Proposal is to develop the requirements and methodology for a contemporary bigdata scheduling system for patient transfers in Metro Halifax. The project is sponsored by Emergency MedicalCare Inc. (EMC), a privately-owned company that manages a fleet of ground and air medical vehiclesresponsible for ground and air health emergency services as well as patient transfers in the Province of NovaScotia. They own and operate several ambulances, patient transfer units (PTUs), a helicopter and a fixed wingaircraft as well as a logistics communications centre. Among other responsibilities, EMC is responsible forproviding patient transfer services across Nova Scotia. Patients that require transfer from a medical facility or anursing home to another medical facility for an appointment or required medical service request a transfer;EMC schedules and executes the transfer. EMC has identified challenges in patient transfer scheduling andbelieves there is an opportunity to improve efficiency (reduce PTU travel distance, time, and deadhead) andreduce patient rescheduling or delays (to improve patient comfort and minimize health care providerdisruptions). If EMC can improve the efficiency of their patient transfers, it will benefit from considerable costsavings and potentially improve service levels for patients and providers. This research project will look at therequirements for scheduling and assigning patient transfers. Operational strategies will be identified andformalized in consultation with EMC. Finally, we will develop a methodology for improved scheduling usingoperational research tools (the current system of scheduling is manual).