The long-term objective of this research is to develop an easy-to-use, PC-based scheduling and planning system for home care services. This system will enable home care agencies to maximize their human resources and to reduce their service costs. Phase I is to identify the issues dealing with scheduling and coordinating of nurses and home health aides. A pilot system will be implemented and tested as part of the investigation. Phase II will be on the development of a final system based on the pilot system with enhancements. Applying the latest computer graphic, mapping and database technologies, a pilot system which combines street maps with patients and nurses database will be developed. The system will first prepare a list of daily visits for each nurse. Locations of all visits with patients and other related information will be displayed on the mapping screen. A set of procedures will then be applied for creating routes, modifying existing ones, evaluating alternatives, and print route maps and directions. By adding a visual component to the data, a coordinator will be able to effectively match nurses with the services required and reduce driving time.
