Abstract:  Healthcare personnel scheduling problems look on the surface to be clear candidates for combinatorial optimization techniques such as integer programming. A key challenge, however, is the lack of a single, well-defined objective function. Instead, there are many competing metrics of importance including service coverage and patient care, provider well-being and satisfaction, and (in the case of medical trainees) educational considerations. In this talk, I will consider a number of personnel scheduling problems from the University of Michigan health system, focusing not only on the models and algorithms needed to solve these problems, but also on the techniques needed to identify solutions that are desirable and acceptable for practical use.

Bio: Amy Ellen Mainville Cohn is an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor in the Department of Industrial and Operations Engineering at the University of Michigan, where she also holds an appointment in the Department of Health Management and Policy in the School of Public Health. Dr. Cohn is the Faculty Director of the Center for Healthcare Engineering and Patient Safety (CHEPS). She holds an A.B. in applied mathematics, magna cum laude, from Harvard University and a PhD in operations research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her primary research interests are in applications of combinatorial optimization, particularly to healthcare and aviation, and to the challenges of optimization problems with multiple objective criteria. She values teaching, mentoring, having a positive impact on society through her work, and helping to foster a vibrant, diverse, nurturing community. She and her husband Jonathan are the proud parents of two sons, Tommy and Peter.