Friday
Health care has been perhaps the fastest growing application area of OR, as many people have noted that the success stories of OR in other industries can be realized in various health care settings as well. In addition to cost savings, health care OR has led to improved quality and length of life for many patients. The diversity of OR applications in general also is found within health care, as OR techniques have been used to evaluate the effectiveness of needle exchange programs in reducing the spread of disease, to assess the optimal location of ambulances in an urban setting, and to determine the best scheduling of surgeries, just to name a few.
This conference brings together leading experts in the field of health care OR, as well as researchers just starting their careers in this important field. There will be a wide variety of exciting presentations, reflecting the diversity of health care OR and the potential benefits of OR analyses. We hope that just as many people from outside OR will attend. Operating On Health Care is about building bridges between operations researchers, health care managers, practitioners, and policy makers.