An optimization-based tool for solving location and reorganization problems in healthcare

In the last years, the Italian healthcare system is facing significant challenges, that underline the serious need for radical changes. Indeed, there is broad evidence that, even though a huge amount of money is invested in healthcare services every year, the patients often do not get the care they need. Thus, reforming the healthcare delivery system in Italy is mandatory, to ensure high care quality at reasonable cost. In this work, we formulate and solve some optimization problems, arising in the reorganization process of the healthcare service network, by considering the specific situation of the Calabria Region (South of Italy). The considered optimization models are embedded in a prototype of a decision support system to help the decision-makers at the strategical level. Some preliminary computational experiments are carried out to assess the performance of the developed models and system.