Towards a framework for conceptual model hybridization in healthcare

It is well documented that modeling large complex healthcare systems cannot be achieved using the traditional single-technique approach. Developing large healthcare models requires more than one way of thinking about it, as healthcare systems consist of multiple stakeholders, policies, types of patients and many more complex subsidiaries. Whilst the literature is abound with hybrid models and attempts to theorize multi-method approaches, there is limited guidance of how to go about building a hybrid model and when. In this paper we attempt to develop a guiding framework focusing identifying what issues to consider when building a hybrid model. This 3-phased framework is based on model decomposition into modules, assigning methods to these modules, and identification of communication strategies between them. We start our endeavor by focusing on two types of popular techniques, namely system dynamics and discrete event simulation.