In the search to develop solid, credible, evidence-based answers to complex questions during an emerging global pandemic, simulation modeling has stepped up to the challenge. More than ever before, governments and healthcare care systems worldwide are relying on simulation to help guide critical decisions.
Pandemic Response Management
Collaboration Strategies
How effective are formalized collaboration strategies when responding to a pandemic or disaster incident involving mass casualties and area-wide damage? How best can patients be transferred and...
MASH- Pandemics
In response to COVID-19 and other pandemics, a collaboration between George Mason University, The World Bank, and Johns Hopkins University have developed a portal that supports Models for Assessing...
National Park Management
As shelter-in-place regulations slowly lifted, how could the reopening of public spaces be managed to maintain a high quality visitor experience while adhering to social distancing requirements at...
Pandemic Response Planning
How could we expedite vaccination distribution to protect society if there’s a pandemic? In a February 2017 report published in the Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness Journal,...
ExtendSim in Pandemic Response Management
- Accurately determine what the demand will be on hospital resources such as doctors, nurses, beds, rooms, equipment, and emergency transport vehicles.
- Guide decisions to help quickly adjust to new protocols.
- Determine the ability of these resources and systems to provide the level of care required for patients who have contracted COVID-19.
- Predict how these systems will perform over time subject to varying rates of COVID-19 cases requiring medical treatment and support.
- Help understand the potential trajectory of a pandemic.
- Unlock the best possible decisions given the fluidity of pandemics to provide lots of great insights on what to do and not do.
Who is using ExtendSim in Pandemic Response Management
- Demand and capacity planning for an Intensive Care Unit examined patient flow pathways in a care unit (Definite MI, Suspected MI, LVF, and Arrhythmia) to investigate the impact of bed blockages in the medical ward on the ability of the unit to deliver its specialized care.
- Resource prioritization and allocation in the short and long term when faced with projected increases in clients and the need to expand without over-expanding.
Modeling perioperative systems in a hospital - Utilizing data from a study containing a large dataset (90,000+ records of 30,000+ patients) culled from hospital patient logs and electronic data collection systems, ExtendSim was used to evaluate alternate process flows, policies, staffing, and resource allocation, for the cases flowing through a renovated space. This level of fidelity increased team buy-in and increased certainty that savings estimates would be real, providing an accurate understanding of resource allocation as it relates to revenue. The effort’s positive outcome showed the importance of involving nursing staff and facility administration with the healthcare planning, architecture, and simulation modeling team. The result is improved patient care and patient flow with better use of personnel and other resources.
ExtendSim was used to support the operational and functional design of a national distribution center for the leading pharmaceuticals distributor in Argentina (more that 150 million units per year, at a value of $1 billion). This operation stands out for its level of innovation and aggressive use of simulation technology in support of order picking operations and routing of orders.
Feasibility model of North Hampshire Hospital's Emergency Assessment Centre in the United Kingdom evaluated staffing requirements, beds, number of cubicles, overall size of the facilities, and future growth. Surveyors and engineers used model results to plan the facility.
Who is using ExtendSim in Pandemic Response Management
- Demand and capacity planning for an Intensive Care Unit examined patient flow pathways in a care unit (Definite MI, Suspected MI, LVF, and Arrhythmia) to investigate the impact of bed blockages in the medical ward on the ability of the unit to deliver its specialized care.
- Resource prioritization and allocation in the short and long term when faced with projected increases in clients and the need to expand without over-expanding.
- Modeling perioperative systems in a hospital - Utilizing data from a study containing a large dataset (90,000+ records of 30,000+ patients) culled from hospital patient logs and electronic data collection systems, ExtendSim was used to evaluate alternate process flows, policies, staffing, and resource allocation, for the cases flowing through a renovated space. This level of fidelity increased team buy-in and increased certainty that savings estimates would be real, providing an accurate understanding of resource allocation as it relates to revenue. The effort’s positive outcome showed the importance of involving nursing staff and facility administration with the healthcare planning, architecture, and simulation modeling team. The result is improved patient care and patient flow with better use of personnel and other resources.
- ExtendSim was used to support the operational and functional design of a national distribution center for the leading pharmaceuticals distributor in Argentina (more that 150 million units per year, at a value of $1 billion). This operation stands out for its level of innovation and aggressive use of simulation technology in support of order picking operations and routing of orders.
- Feasibility model of North Hampshire Hospital's Emergency Assessment Centre in the United Kingdom evaluated staffing requirements, beds, number of cubicles, overall size of the facilities, and future growth. Surveyors and engineers used model results to plan the facility.
Trusted by Leading Pandemic Response Management Teams
Case Studies
Regional Maximum Hospital Capacity Estimation
Regional Maximum Hospital Capacity Estimation for COVID-19 Pandemic Patient Care in Surge Through Simulation
Overcoming Challenges in Hybrid Simulation Design and Experiment
This study builds on earlier research which focuses on the use of combined simulation methods to support healthcare demand predictions. The authors developed a hybrid simulation model composed of...
Using Simulation to Design an Emergency Department, Architecturally, Operationally, & Clinically
An existing hospital system was struggling with its volume of patients. The predicted increase in volume would push the existing system past its breaking point. A team was tasked with not only...
Planning Intensive Care Unit Design Using Computer Simulation Modeling
Nurses have increasingly been regarded as critical members of the planning team as architects recognize their knowledge and value. But the nurses’ role as knowledge experts can be expanded to...
A Simulation Model for Emergency Centres
Emergency management planners and health care facilities are faced with potential scenarios that may severely test their capabilities and conventional processes. This paper presents the development...
Agent-based Disease Surveillance and Transmission Model
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has driven a need for models that can predict transmission among populations and test the effectiveness of proposed interventions to control it such as testing, quarantining,...
Simulation Approach in Queue Management at Supermarkets in the COVID-19 Era
How might one both prevent and control an epidemic spreading of disease (for example COVID-19) in supermarkets? To answer this question, a simulation approach was proposed. A number of simulation...
Videos
An Overview of MASH-Pandemics
Overview of the MASH-Pandemics portal that supports hospitals and regional administrators in responding to the current COVID-19 pandemic and other disease outbreaks. Using mathematical modeling, it...
The Use of Discrete-Event Simulation in Healthcare Operations Research
This hour-long video is part of a webinar series hosted by Healthcare Systems Modeling & Simulation Affinity Group of Society of Simulation in Healthcare that was streamed live on June...
HealthCare Modeling
Susan O'Hara of O'Hara HealthCare Consultants and Robin Clark of the QMT Group present a case study of a surgical department demonstrating the importance of making accurate predictions in the...