Medical testing services’ quality enhancement with discrete-event simulation

Abstract

In recent years, the demand for health care has increased owing to the ongoing introduction of new health problems and the intensification of existing illnesses. As research in this area progresses, knowledge becomes the primary motivation for patients to adopt a better quality of life. Consequently, many health units have struggled to develop solutions to manage excessive demand while maintaining a high quality of service to enhance patient satisfaction and boost revenues. One of these tactics is using simulation models as a method of operational research to analyze the flow of patients and predict potential solutions to enhance resource efficiency while decreasing waiting time. This work aims to develop and demonstrate a simulation model that replicates the functioning of a hospital unit. For this purpose, data derived from the health services of the Imaging Department of a private hospital, located in Lisbon, Portugal, were used. This model will replicate the daily flow that this department is subjected to by its patients and personnel and depict how the system evolves due to the management of the department's number of resources and examination rooms. At the end of the analyses, several solutions are presented and discussed, from level to level, concerning improvements in the performance of services, resources and patients. However, only the increase in one unit of examination rooms translates into a huge positive impact on waiting times in the respective queues.