Appointment scheduling
Hospital Operations
Definition. Appointment scheduling is the design of rules and systems that allocate patients to time slots in order to balance patient waiting, provider idle time and overtime.
Explanation
A classic review by Cayirli and Veral classified scheduling decisions into appointment rules, patient classification and adjustments for no-shows and walk-ins (Cayirli & Veral, 2003).
AI tools are increasingly used to predict no-shows and optimise schedules in hospital management.
Related concepts
Waiting time Forecasting Operating room management Patient flow
References
Cayirli, T., & Veral, E. (2003). Outpatient scheduling in health care: A review of literature. Production and Operations Management, 12(4), 519–549.
Cite this entry: Kurutkan, M. N. (2026). Appointment scheduling. In The Health Topics glossary. https://healthtopic.org/glossary/appointment-scheduling/