Date of Award

3-17-2026

Embargo Period

3-28-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Health Administration

Department

Health Administration

College

College of Health Professions

First Advisor

Kit N. Simpson

Second Advisor

Caitlin Koob

Third Advisor

Todd L. Wandstrat

Abstract

Outpatient infusion centers face persistent scheduling complexity driven by variable treatment durations, coordination between clinics, pharmacy lead times, and constrained staffing. This doctoral project develops and reviews a comprehensive framework for infusion scheduling transformation that integrates workforce role redesign, site‑level communication pathways, and data‑informed workqueue governance. Using a multi‑phase case at a large cancer center as an anchor, the framework specifies responsibilities across central schedulers, on‑site teams, medical coordinators, and nursing; details communication and escalation design (secure messaging and in‑basket use); and outlines training and proficiency tiers. The project synthesizes evidence from scheduling science and time-driven activity-based costing principles to inform workload assessment, implementation sequencing, and evaluation metrics (e.g., proportion of patients leaving with next appointment scheduled, wait times, treatment chair utilization, and rescheduling volume). The result is a scalable roadmap that health systems can adapt to shift from purely centralized models to site‑integrated, team‑based scheduling, improving access, patient experience, and operational stability while creating a foundation for subsequent optimization and economic analysis.

Rights

Copyright is held by the author. All rights reserved.

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