A survey of data resources for simulating patient flows in healthcare delivery systems

Modeling and simulation studies of patient flows in healthcare systems have been reported consistently in these proceedings for over a decade. Our ongoing research in this area is motivated by our desire to develop models which will illuminate the causes and remedies for repeated area-wide ambulance diversions experienced in a metropolitan hospital system. In this paper we summarize our background research on the sources of data available to calibrate patient-flow simulation models, including time series for patient admission, discharge, diagnoses, length-of-stay, and inpatient census for emergency departments and hospitals. Specifically, we review the input analyses reported for various prior simulation studies, including data capture and technical difficulties in reducing data for model calibration. We also suggest alternative sources of data that could prove especially useful in simulation studies of mass ambulance diversions, as well as heavy, area-wide patient loads that might be associated with emergency responses.