Discrete event simulation-based approach for hospital services development and monitoring

Discrete event simulation techniques have been already used for many years and in several areas to improve manufacturing workflows and services provided to customers. Despite being born in the industrial environment, over the years the use of this instrument has brought great advantages in healthcare as well, by improving the efficiency of the organization in a quick and economically sustainable way. The goal of this work is to present a simulation model which is able to correctly optimize the operation of the laboratory analysis in hospitals, in order to quickly assess the effects of the changes connected with different scenarios proposed. The new system for on-line reservation will also be assessed as well as the effects of its introduction –by following up the results of previous studies. The main performance indicators analyzed are the ‘waiting times of patients for the acceptance’, especially as regards patients without a reservation, ‘the number of patients in the queue’ and the ‘utilization rate of resources.’ The simulation model has been proved to be an excellent tool to support organizational decisions that allowed to identify that an earlier opening time of the front desks will be the best way to reduce waiting times for patients. Furthermore the model is able to predict the number of patients in the queue beyond which the waiting time rises above a critical value. The on-line reservation system greatly improved the ‘waiting times of patients’ with reservation but the ‘waiting times’ for direct-access (not booked) ordinary and urgent patients still remain high.