Enabling Efficient Telemedicine: The Potential of OR/OM Applications in Healthcare Delivery

Telemedicine has become an essential part of healthcare systems worldwide, offering flexible and remote care options that can improve access, reduce costs, and enhance patient experiences. As its adoption expands across various healthcare settings, there is a growing need to understand how telemedicine systems function and how they can be improved. To address this, we investigate the application of operations research (OR) and operations management (OM) in healthcare delivery, with a focus on telemedicine. This study reviews existing literature and practical cases to explore how OR/OM approaches have been used to tackle key challenges such as resource allocation, service scheduling, patient flow coordination, and capacity planning. By examining how these tools can model system complexities and support performance improvements, we highlight their value in designing more efficient, equitable, and resilient telemedicine services. This research offers a system-level perspective that bridges healthcare delivery needs with analytical opportunities, aiming to inform future research and practical implementations in digital health.