About
Dr. Tugce Isik is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering at Clemson University. Her research interests are in stochastic modeling and applied probability with a focus on Markov decision processes and queuing theory. She is particularly interested in capacity and workforce allocation problems that arise in healthcare and other service industries. Over the years, she has collaborated with researchers and clinical staff at Prisma Health to model and solve real operational problems that arise in perioperative services, appointment scheduling, and patient flow. Her research has been published in leading journals including Production and Operations Management, IISE Transactions, and Queueing Systems among others. She is an active member of IISE and INFORMS, and currently serves on the board of officers for the Forum for Women in OR/MS (WORMS). She holds PhD and MS degrees in Operations Research from Georgia Institute of Technology and a BS degree in Industrial Engineering from Bogazici University in Turkey.
Visit Dr. Isik's Department Profile.
How their research is transforming health care
My research addresses the capacity and workforce allocation issues in healthcare with an emphasis on increasing system flexibility to better utilize scarce resources. I am particularly interested in the efficient allocation and scheduling of workers in healthcare since physicians, nurses, and other clinical staff are often the scarcest resources due to the training and experience required in their line of work. Currently, I am working to develop staffing strategies to avoid physician shortages during widespread infectious disease outbreaks. These strategies are going to enable health systems to be better prepared for future pandemics. In another ongoing project, I investigate benefits of cross-training nursing staff and dynamic nurse to task assignment. The insights generated by this work will help inpatient facilities and emergency departments lessen the operational impacts of the ongoing nursing shortage which is expected to continue in the next decade.
Health Research Interests Keywords
Faculty Scholar, Capacity planning and allocation in healthcare; healthcare workforce flexibility; nursing shortage; patient flow; infectious disease modeling; telehealth
