Applying OptaPlanner in the implementation of doctors’ schedule of duty hours

The result of this work is to enable direct executors, within a medical institution, significantly improved performance when creating doctors’ duty schedules compared to one that is created manually. A theoretical overview of the basic concepts related to this set of problems is given. The main task is to maximize the preferences of medical personnel for working in shifts when a set of restrictions is provided for the process of planning a schedule. They can be closely related to labor laws, hospital regulations, individual preferences, and many more. Based on these constraints a mathematical model is proposed. Since this is an NP-hard problem, metaheuristics are used. As this field includes a certain number of algorithms, this paper focuses on simulated annealing. Defining this, the theoretical background and usage of the OptaPlanner tool are presented. This tool is used to solve previously mentioned types of optimization problems and can be fully integrated into the Java programming language.

I. Introduction

Nowadays, optimizing resources and making carefully thought-out decisions in their planning, represent one of the leading concerns in every responsible organization that aims to effectively achieve its goals and results which are inevitable if resources are used in the right way. Resources in this context can be raw materials, employees, vehicles, machines, and others.