Integrated agent-oriented modeling and simulation of population and healthcare delivery network: Application to COPD chronic disease in a Canadian region

In this paper we introduce a framework for integrated agent-oriented modeling and simulation of the population with a specific chronic disease in a large region and of the network providing relevant healthcare services for this population. We illustrate the framework through the Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) population and healthcare delivery network in Quebec´s capital region of Canada. In this framework exploiting agent oriented modeling, demand for healthcare is expressed deeply through the stochastic modeling of health status evolution of each person in a population of potential patients, where the implications of this evolution generate the demand in terms of patient needs for healthcare and their frequency. In parallel, the organization and functioning of the healthcare delivery network is modeled with an adequate detail level. This is made possible by exploiting the richness of the agent paradigm and by introducing integration mechanisms binding the two model components.