Simulation Model for Emergency Department
SIMULATION MODEL FOR EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT
ABSTRACT
The paper presents a comprehensive research study on the Simulation Model for Emergency Department. The study was conducted in the Emergency Department (ED) at The Ohio State Medical Center. A simulation model was developed using Arena (7.0) to model the process flow of patients in order to analyze the ED System performance. A Statistical Design of Experiments study was performed to study the significance/ non significance levels in order to improve ED performance.
Key Words: Emergency Department, Simulation, Work Flow.
1 - INTRODUCTION
The Emergency Department (ED) at Ohio State Medical Center specializes in the treatment of critically ill and seriously injured patients and possess a comprehensive array of the most up to date diagnostic and treatment services coupled with a highly trained and experienced health care staff. It was observed that the overall time patients spent in the Emergency Department of the hospital was significantly higher (500 minutes) than the benchmarked time for the patient length of stay (LOS). This has an adverse impact on patient throughput in the ED. If the patient length of stay in the ED is high, then the waiting times for new incoming patients in the ED is high and the in-process patient volumes who have received partial medical service in the ED is also high. These factors contribute to a significant decline in the ED system performance.
The objective of our research study was to analyze and evaluate ED system performance. The research study was conducted in several phases. The first phase involved construction of a detailed flow chart of the “As Is” ED system. This enabled us to understand the work flow of patients, physicians and nurses in the ED system. The second phase involved construction of a detailed simulation model using Arena (7.0). The simulation model calculates the performance evaluation measures such as total patient length
ABSTRACT
The paper presents a comprehensive research study on the Simulation Model for Emergency Department. The study was conducted in the Emergency Department (ED) at The Ohio State Medical Center. A simulation model was developed using Arena (7.0) to model the process flow of patients in order to analyze the ED System performance. A Statistical Design of Experiments study was performed to study the significance/ non significance levels in order to improve ED performance.
Key Words: Emergency Department, Simulation, Work Flow.
1 - INTRODUCTION
The Emergency Department (ED) at Ohio State Medical Center specializes in the treatment of critically ill and seriously injured patients and possess a comprehensive array of the most up to date diagnostic and treatment services coupled with a highly trained and experienced health care staff. It was observed that the overall time patients spent in the Emergency Department of the hospital was significantly higher (500 minutes) than the benchmarked time for the patient length of stay (LOS). This has an adverse impact on patient throughput in the ED. If the patient length of stay in the ED is high, then the waiting times for new incoming patients in the ED is high and the in-process patient volumes who have received partial medical service in the ED is also high. These factors contribute to a significant decline in the ED system performance.
The objective of our research study was to analyze and evaluate ED system performance. The research study was conducted in several phases. The first phase involved construction of a detailed flow chart of the “As Is” ED system. This enabled us to understand the work flow of patients, physicians and nurses in the ED system. The second phase involved construction of a detailed simulation model using Arena (7.0). The simulation model calculates the performance evaluation measures such as total patient length