Interdisciplinary Research from UTEP Faculty Optimizes COVID-19 Vaccination Clinics
Sreenath Chalil Madathil, Ph.D., assistant professor in industrial manufacturing and systems engineering (IMSE) at The University of Texas at El Paso, is working to streamline the process and ease the patient experience at COVID-19 vaccination clinics in the United States to ensure faster vaccine distribution.
Madathil led a team of UTEP faculty, staff and students that included Guadalupe Valencia-Skanes, associate vice president for business affairs; Sandy Vasquez, associate vice president for human resources; José Humberto Ablanedo Rosas, who holds the Western Hemisphere Trade Research II professorship and associate professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management (OSCM) in the Woody L. Hunt College of Business and Joshua Holguin, IMSE graduate research assistant.
The team observed several of El Paso’s drive-through and walk-in clinics for testing and vaccinations in early 2021 and identified areas that likely created bottlenecks, which produced delays and other issues.
The group used the information from their observations to develop simulation models to examine a clinic’s performance to further identify potential slowdowns, calculate resource utilization, and reduce patient waiting time.
For Ablanedo Rosas, this presented an opportunity to participate in meaningful interdisciplinary research that benefits our community and communities beyond the El Paso region.
“Faculty have expressed a deep interest in conducting interdisciplinary research,” he said. “When we cross-collaborate with other disciplines, a lot of different perspectives are brought to the table, which increases our chances to do a better job – to have a more satisfied customer – in a more efficient way.”
An accomplished voice in the OSCM field, Ablanedo Rosas has collaborated with researchers from different universities around the world and has been published in well-known academic journals, such as Computers & Industrial Engineering, Computers and Operations Research, Expert Systems.
Answering a call from University and College leadership to help with the project, Ablanedo Rosas was selected to participate – but is quick to note that faculty from the OSCM faculty team at the Woody L. Hunt College of Business all agreed to help.
In Ablanedo Rosas’ view, the research opportunity highlights the importance of including a business mindset in any team.
The Woody L. Hunt College of Business can play a significant role in any team because the business discipline brings a distinct perspective...we think about the customer and the efficiency from their perspective. In any process, in any operation, you can always identify a customer.
“The Woody L. Hunt College of Business can play a significant role in any team because the business discipline brings a distinct perspective,” he said. “For us, we think about the customer and the efficiency from their perspective. In any process, in any operation, you can always identify a customer.”
Using simulation models, UTEP researchers can track various performance measures such as wait time, number of people in the queue, and resource utilization.
“This quantitative scientific methodology will help university and community leaders efficiently plan for resources,” Madathil said. “Our experts from IMSE, the College of Business Administration, the College of Health Sciences, the School of Nursing, and UTEP administration collaborated to develop these models.”
Madathil fervently believes in the need to streamline health systems to reduce patient wait times and improve the overall patient experience. He is helping a few hospital systems in El Paso and Washington, D.C., to implement drive-through vaccination clinics. He anticipates the need for similar projects to continue to grow.
“We identified simple bottlenecks that, if not adequately addressed, will result in over mile-long traffic blocks and long waiting times,” Madathil said. “We cannot afford to not learn from the mistakes of vaccine distribution to our senior population and improve the process. We must do it correctly the first time. We hope that this simple model helps improve the patient experience and accelerate speedy recovery of those infected by COVID-19.”
