Outpatient scheduling problem in smart hospital with two-agent deep reinforcement learning algorithm

As the internet and digital technologies revolutionize the healthcare sector, the development of smart hospitals is pivotal for improving medical service efficiency. This research presents a mathematical model for the outpatient scheduling problem and introduces the Graph-based Two-Agent Deep Reinforcement Learning algorithm (GTARS-DRL) to address the escalating demand for medical services and the scarcity of resources. The GTARS-DRL leverages graph neural networks for feature extraction of patient medical activities and applies the PDQPN algorithm to train agents for optimizing patient sequencing and service desk allocation, effectively minimizing wait times. Our experiments indicate that GTARS-DRL outperforms traditional scheduling rules in solution quality and matches the performance of Genetic Algorithms (GA), with a notable advantage in computational efficiency, boasting an ACPU of 0.762 s and an ARPT of 0.327 s. The algorithm’s efficacy is further supported by its successful application to larger-scale instances, showcasing its potential for real-world use. This study contributes a novel approach to outpatient scheduling in smart hospitals, providing theoretical backing and practical direction for the optimization of medical resource allocation, and is poised to significantly enhance service efficiency and patient satisfaction.