Simulation-Based Optimization for Improving Hospital Performance

Background and Objectives: Hospitals are the final stage of health services delivery supply chain, and thus the quality of health services offered by hospitals directly impacts the well-being of individuals. Application of efficient operations research (OR) tools has proved powerful in finding non-intuitive solutions for enhanced hospital performance. The aim of the present study was to develop a design-of-experiments (DOE) model based on computer simulation to optimize key factors influencing health services quality, including queue length, patient waiting time, departure rate, and productivity. Methods: The study was designed and implemented in Shomal hospital situated in Northern of Iran. The response surface methodology (RSM) was adopted as the DOE technique. The proposed simulation model considered all wards and their interactions together. Findings: Our method demonstrated feasibility of reducing the decision-making risk and decreasing queue length and patient waiting time by evaluating and analyzing different scenarios. Conclusions: Our study indicates the usefulness of adopting simulation-based approach in identifying bottlenecks of achieving high health services performance.