Improving the Hospital Quality of Care during Winter Periods by Optimizing Budget Allocation Between Rotavirus Vaccination and Bed Expansion

Dort, Thibaut; Schecroun, Nadia; Standaert, Baudouin

The time horizon of the model is 90 days per year, corresponding to the winter period during which the problem of low QoC-scores appears. This restricted period of evaluation should not be seen as a limitation in the process of QoC-score improvement. The latter is a dynamic process over several years with annual peaks that decrease over time depending on the vaccine coverage rates. Moreover, starting each year from a no vaccination situation seems reasonable as the rotavirus epidemic takes place every year during each winter period, and the vaccination of each new birth cohort each year must be maintained. Therefore, starting from a no vaccination situation and considering the 90-day winter period only does not seem too restrictive.