Applications of Mathematics in Hospital

There are many types of hospitals that are classified based on the treatment provided by them according to their specialisation such as General Medical and Surgical Hospitals, Psychiatric Hospitals, Teaching Hospitals, Dental hospitals, and Specialty Hospitals (neurology, pathology, radiology, etc.), different types of clinics, etc. different types of hospitals use different types of drugs and medicine, equipment, laboratories, staff, testing method, infrastructure, management systems, etc. according to their requirements.

So, they use many applications of mathematics in their activities, such as probability and statistics, graphical methods, arithmetic, number system, complex analysis, numerical analysis, etc. Math and medicine are correlated with each other. Let’s discuss the applications of math in medicine one by one.

Application In Prescription Given By Doctor

We know that the prescription is the most important thing to cure a disease. If a doctor prescribes the wrong drug and medicine, it can be very dangerous or even fatal for a patient. Most doctors prescribe medicine according to the body weight of the patient so they convert medicine into milligrams per kilogram. Maths also helps to calculate drug doses, schedule, and course of treatment because doctors need to know how much time that drug will take to consume, and according to that they schedule a proper course of treatment.

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We also know that there is plenty of data for a disease so doctors use statistics to draw a conclusion from obtained information because statistics help with errors and biases in medical research. By using statistics, they can compare local health conditions with national, and international scenarios. Apart from these, by using statistics and probability, they can identify unique patterns in unique symptoms and signs so that they are able to respond better to any change in their patient.

Application In Hospital Budgeting

Budgeting is a process of tracking expenses for all the liabilities and incomes from all the assets. In other words, it is an estimation of earnings and expenses over a certain time and period. We know that there are many expenses and earning (revenue) sources in hospitals.

Expenses Tracking

Mathematics in the hospitals is used for expenses tracking such as-

1. For purchasing of drugs and medicine, equipment, taxes, staff salary, electricity bill, security, and management, etc.

2. Earning (revenue) sources:- consulting fees, earnings from drug and medicine selling, advertisement, government schemes, donations, etc.

By using arithmetic equations, number systems, and tables, the hospital manager prepares the best budget so that they can earn maximum profit from minimum expenses. To prepare a good budget they use simple mathematics like addition (for all expenses and earnings), subtraction (expenses from earnings), multiplication (to calculate the price of many units by the price of a single unit), dividing (to calculate price of the single unit by the price of a packet), interest formulas (to calculate paying or gaining interest amount), etc.

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Application in laboratories for different tests, preparation of drug and medicine. There is a separate branch in medical science which is biotechnology in which maths is used to calculate proportions, graphs, errors, quantities, and many more. There are many laboratories in the biotechnology department in which doctors prepare required drugs and medicine according to their requirements and also, and they perform many types of experiments. In all the experiment, preparation of drug and medicine they use a different type of mathematical operations which is given below,

The normal distribution is used to determine if a test is in control or out of control. Statistics is used to determine the reference range for tests and draw a conclusion from obtained information.

Doctors use many algorithm-based software to convert two-dimensional images on the monitor into three-dimensional images so they can determine many body parts from different angles.

Doctors also use combinations, statistics, and probability so that they can prepare the best compound of chemicals with a suitable amount of chemicals or drugs for a specific disease. As we know statistics is used for the analysis of frequency from past events and probability is used to predict future results.

Application in Equipment or Instrument

There are many instruments and machines in every hospital. Each instrument is made for some special purpose and each machine is also made for some specific purpose. In this technical era, there are many smart instruments and machines which are based on artificial intelligence and machine learning that is based on algorithms and coding theories and these theories are also part of mathematics. Some equipment and machine with the mathematical application is given below

In the thermometer, there is a temperature scale to measure temperature by the height of mercury. This is based on the principle of thermal expansion. There is a hollow pipe in the stethoscope to listen to the sound of the heart and lungs to measure the frequency. This pipe should be in a very specific dimension otherwise it will not work.

There are many technical machines in hospitals like CT-Scan, X-Ray, etc. These types of machines are used to obtain an image of the body or a body part. Later on, doctors convert those two-dimensional images into three-dimensional images by using some algorithm-based software.

All the infrastructure which is used in the hospital is in a suitable dimension according to the space available in the hospital. Apart from these, there are many more applications of mathematics in equipment and machines.

Also, Read | Uses Of Mathematics In Computer Application

Application in Hospital Management

Hospital management system brings together all the processes and information on a single platform. It creates a frictionless approach towards managing the entire hospital and solving complexities. There are many types of management in the entire hospital like patient management, staff management, financial management, time management, laboratory management, etc. In all the managing activities the manager uses mathematics.

In financial management financial analysts use mathematics to analyse market data, find patterns in obtained data and predict risks. In accounting also maths has its application to properly ensure everything balances.

The time management manager divides the whole day in different shifts according to doctors working in the hospital and prepares a chart for their patients.

In the laboratory lab technicians manage everything according to different types of tests because each test takes different time. There are many machines and equipment available in the laboratory with different dimensions So, all this needs to be managed according to space and their dimensions.

For the staff and patient management manager required MS-Office. So, he can maintain patients' records with their doctors.

Everyone thinks that mathematics is all about numbers, ratio and equations. However, its applications are in each and every field. The role of mathematics in hospital as well as in medical science is no lesser than biology. On the contrary, maths is and has been leading the medical field into growth.