Problem 1
You are asked to perform a capacity analysis for the clinic. Thecurrent resources of the clinic are as follows (assume that theinformation is steady throughout the day):
| Resources | Number of Service Providers | Processing Time (min/patient) |
| Reception | 3 | 5 |
| Primary care provider | 10 | 20 |
| Nurse | 3 | 30 |
| Radiologist | 2 | 40 |
| Diabetes care | 1 | 30 |
| Nutrition care | 1 | 25 |
In addition, the following information is presented toyou on the operations of the clinic.
• All patients need to register with the receptionist beforethey can see a nurse/doctor. The average time to register at thereception desk is 5 minutes.
• On average, 30% of the incoming patients are considered tohave only minor problems that can be handled by nurses. Theremaining 70% are given appointments to see a primary careprovider.
• The average consultation time with a nurse is 30 minutes.After diagnosis by a nurse, 30% of the patients are asked to see aprimary care provider for further diagnosis.
• An appointment with a primary care provider lasts 20 minutes,on average. After check up by a primary care provider, 20% of thepatients are referred to a radiologist, 10% are referred to thediabetes care center, 20% are referred to the nutrition care centerand the remaining 50% either don’t need further referral or arereferred to an outside hospital.
• The average consultation time with the radiologist is 40minutes.
• It takes 30 minutes, on average, for diagnosis at the diabetescare center.
• An appointment at the nutrition care center usually takes 25minutes.
The manager of the clinic is interested in the followingquestions:
a. What is the capacity of each resource in the clinic(reception, primary care provider, nurse, radiologist, diabetescare, and nutrition care) in number of patient-arrivals perhour?
b. What is the system capacity of the clinic in number ofpatient-arrivals per hour? Identify the bottleneck(s). What is theslack of each resource in total number of patient -arrivals perhour?
c. If the clinic hires two additional units for the bottleneckresource, what would be the new system capacity andbottleneck(s)?
d. Suppose that the proposal in part (c) is implemented and allemployees work 10 hours per day, how many patients can the clinicserve each day?
