Health Care Management Science Optimization-based physician scheduling: a systematic review, integrative taxonomy, and future research directions

Health Care Management Science Optimization-based physician scheduling: a systematic review, integrative taxonomy, and future research directions | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Systematic Review Health Care Management Science Optimization-based physician scheduling: a systematic review, integrative taxonomy, and future research directions Rokaya Lassoued, Narjes Nouri, Abdelkarim Elloumi This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9200616/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Physician scheduling influences coverage, continuity of care, workload distribution, and physician wellbeing, yet the optimization literature remains scattered across clinical settings, objective structures, and evaluation practices. This review examines 45 studies on physician scheduling published between 2015 and 2025. The review protocol combines PICOS-based question formulation, PRISMA 2020-based study selection, and a CASP-informed appraisal framework. To preserve a clear focus on physician scheduling, broad reviews of healthcare or personnel scheduling were used only to position the study and were not included in the coded sample unless they dealt explicitly with physician scheduling. The f inal sample therefore comprises 44 original optimization studies and one physician-scheduling review. The analysis covers publication trends, publication profile, objective structures, service environments, comparison designs, planning horizons, and an integrative taxonomy linking care setting, objective architecture, constraint design, solution methodology, and evaluation logic. The findings show a marked increase in publications after 2020, continued dominance of single-objective formulations, and a strong concentration on weekly and monthly planning horizons. Validation remains based mainly on internal computational comparisons or local hospital practice, while direct benchmarking across studies is still limited. The paper concludes by outlining directions for future research in integrated planning, uncertainty modelling, fairness design, reproducibility, and broader assessment of managerial impact. Taxonomy Health Economics & Outcomes Research physician scheduling doctor rostering hospital operations systematic review operations analytics workforce optimization Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9200616","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Systematic Review","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":610697184,"identity":"4a945005-035b-4bb9-a987-9e9837abcbc3","order_by":0,"name":"Rokaya Lassoued","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"MODILS Laboratory, Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Rokaya","middleName":"","lastName":"Lassoued","suffix":""},{"id":610697185,"identity":"eda9b7a3-2b69-46b8-bccb-d2290a15f9bf","order_by":1,"name":"Narjes Nouri","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"MODILS Laboratory, Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Narjes","middleName":"","lastName":"Nouri","suffix":""},{"id":610697186,"identity":"e2e7808d-9eb1-4084-a0ff-c5653af99faf","order_by":2,"name":"Abdelkarim Elloumi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"MODILS Laboratory, Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Abdelkarim","middleName":"","lastName":"Elloumi","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-03-23 12:39:54","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":true,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":true},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9200616/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9200616/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":105564190,"identity":"9f3a0858-04f5-40d8-8e0c-a0c274f67b79","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-27 12:48:56","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":323828,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscriptreference.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9200616/v1_covered_e89aff7f-980d-4e55-8a0f-606f4d45b109.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eHealth Care Management Science Optimization-based physician scheduling: a systematic review, integrative taxonomy, and future research directions\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"University of Sfax","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"physician scheduling, doctor rostering, hospital operations, systematic review, operations analytics, workforce optimization","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9200616/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9200616/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003ePhysician scheduling influences coverage, continuity of care, workload distribution, and physician wellbeing, yet the optimization literature remains scattered across clinical settings, objective structures, and evaluation practices. 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