Background/Objectives: This article presents analytical techniques and a decision support tool to aid in hospital capacity assessment and case mix planning (CMP). To date, no similar techniques have been provided in the literature. Methods: Initially, an optimization model is proposed to analyze the impact of making a specific change to an existing case mix, identifying how patient types should be adjusted proportionately to varying levels of hospital resource availability. Subsequently, multi-objective decision-making techniques are introduced to compare and critique competing case mix solutions. Results: The proposed techniques are embedded seamlessly within an Excel Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) personal decision support tool (PDST), for performing informative quantitative assessments of hospital capacity. The PDST reports informative metrics of difference and reports the impact of case mix modifications on the other types of patients present. Conclusions: The techniques developed in this article provide a bridge between theory and practice that is currently missing and provides further situational awareness around hospital capacity.
Keywords: OR in health services; decision support tool; hospital case mix planning; multi-criteria decision-making.