Effective Response to Hospital Congestion Scenarios: Simulation-Based Evaluation of Decongestion Interventions

Abstract

Hospital overcrowding is becoming a major concern in the modern era due to the increasing demand for hospital services. This study seeks to identify effective and efficient ways to resolve the serious problem of congestion in hospitals by testing a range of decongestion strategies with simulated scenarios. In order to determine more efficient solutions, interventions with smaller changes were consistently tested at the beginning through a simulation platform. In addition, the implementation patterns were investigated, which are important to hospital managers with respect to the decisions made to control hospital congestion. The results indicated that diverting a small number of ambulances seems to be more effective and efficient in congestion reduction compared to other approaches. Furthermore, instead of implementing an isolated approach continuously, combining one approach with other strategies is recommended as a method for dealing with hospital overcrowding.