Modeling Emergency Departments Using Discrete Event Simulation Techniques

This paper discusses the application of discrete event simulation (DES) for modeling the operations of an emergency department (ED). The model was developed to help the ED managers understand the behavior of the system with regard to the hidden causes of excessive waiting times. It served as a tool for assessing the impact of major departmental resources on key performance indicators, and was also used as a cost effective method for testing various what-if scenarios for possible system improvement. The study greatly enhanced managers' understanding of the system and how patient flow is influenced by process changes and resource availability. The results of this work also helped managers to either reverse or modify some proposed changes to the system that were previously being considered. The results also show a possible reduction of more than 20% in patients' waiting times.