Estimating Key Performance Indicators of a New Emergency Department Model

Abstract

In this article, a real-life Emergency Department (ED) is studied and analyzed in order to propose areas for improvement in its operations and patient flow. EDs are in native very busy and complex systems where medical facility treatments are provided to arriving patients without any prior appointment. ED, a 24/7 open facility, interacts with the majority of other departments of the healthcare system. Due to this complexity and unplanned nature of patient surge, simulation modeling is proven to be very effective in order to study the necessary changes needed for better performance. As a consequence of these challenges, the patient LoS (Length of Stay) and the human-resource utilization rates are increased and thus leading to staff and customer dissatisfaction which need to be addressed for better performance. An emergency department of a hospital in Lebanon is chosen for simulation using Arena software where a model is designed to match the real system. This model is then verified, validated and enhanced by proposing some modifications in the resource allocation levels. These improvements are achieved by running different scenarios using Arena Process Analyzer and suggesting an optimal solution using Arena OptQuest tool without the need of interrupting the real system.