Question

An outpatient clinic has kept a record of walk-in patients during the past year. The table below shows the expected number of walk-ins by day of the week:

Day mon tues wed thurs fri
walk-ins 50 20 40 34 40

The clinic has a staff of five physicians, and each can examine 15 patients a day on
average.
a. What is the maximum number of appointments that should be scheduled for
each day if it is desirable to smooth out the demand for the week?

Answer 1

The maximum number of appointments that should be scheduled for each day to smooth out the demand for the week is as follows:

Monday: 125 appointments

Tuesday: 95 appointments

Wednesday: 115 appointments

Thursday: 109 appointments

Friday: 115 appointments

How to smooth out the demand for the week

To smooth out the demand for the week, distribute the appointments evenly across the days based on the expected number of walk-ins by day of the week.

The maximum number of appointments that should be scheduled for each day would be equal to the sum of the expected walk-ins for that day plus the average number of patients each physician can examine.

Given:

Number of Physicians = 5

Average number of patients each physician can examine = 15

Expected number of walk-ins by day of the week:

Monday: 50

Tuesday: 20

Wednesday: 40

Thursday: 34

Friday: 40

To calculate the maximum number of appointments for each day, add the expected number of walk-ins to the average number of patients each physician can examine:

Monday: 50 + (5 * 15) = 50 + 75 = 125

Tuesday: 20 + (5 * 15) = 20 + 75 = 95

Wednesday: 40 + (5 * 15) = 40 + 75 = 115

Thursday: 34 + (5 * 15) = 34 + 75 = 109

Friday: 40 + (5 * 15) = 40 + 75 = 115

Therefore, the maximum number of appointments that should be scheduled for each day to smooth out the demand for the week is as follows:

Monday: 125 appointments

Tuesday: 95 appointments

Wednesday: 115 appointments

Thursday: 109 appointments

Friday: 115 appointments