Operating room planning and scheduling: A literature review

This paper provides a review of recent operational research on operating room planning and scheduling. We evaluate the literature on multiple fields that are related to either the problem setting (e.g., performance measures or patient classes) or the technical features (e.g., solution technique or uncertainty incorporation). Since papers are pooled and evaluated in various ways, a diversified and detailed overview is obtained that facilitates the identification of manuscripts related to the reader's specific interests. Throughout the literature review, we Summarize the significant trends in research on operating room planning and scheduling, and we identify areas that need to be addressed in the future. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.