Optimal Hospital Readmissions and Resources Allocation in the Presence of a Pandemic: The Case of COVID-19

为了避免某些国家的破坏性经历，加拿大医疗保健系统以及大多数国家的利益相关者都将COVID-19应急计划的重点放在了避免重症监护病房病床、呼吸机和个人防护装备（PPE）短缺上。这必然转移了对初级保健的关注和资源。鉴于紧急状态和通过COVID-19安全措施实施的限制，初级卫生保健服务受到了负面影响。再加上医疗专业人员和保健管理人员的压力，以及变化的速度和动态性质，处理复杂的运营效率问题（如医院再入院和资源分配）变得非常具有挑战性。

In their quest to avoid the devastating experiences of certain countries, the Canadian health care system as well as stakeholders across most countries have focused their contingency plans for COVID-19 on trying to avoid shortages in ICU beds in intensive care, ventilators and personal protection equipment (PPE). This has necessarily shifted attention and resources from primary care. Given the state of emergency and the restrictions implemented through the COVID-19 safety measures, primary health care provision has been impacted negatively. Coupled with the strain on both medical professionals and health care managers and the speed and dynamic nature of the changes, it has become very challenging to deal with complex operational efficiency matters such as hospital readmissions and resource allocations. It is thus our goal in this partnership research to address the complex problems of patient readmission and resource allocations during and immediately after the pandemic time frame. 3M plans to utilize the research outcomes outlined in this proposal to adapt its current software tools and algorithms to better handle extreme events, such as pandemics, with a focus on the Canadian health care system. This research will enhance effective decision making within hospital stakeholders during and beyond the pandemic context.