A simple and intuitive simulation tool for analyzing emergency department operations

In recent years hospitals have been vigorously searching for ways to reduce costs and improve productivity. One tool, simulation, is now widely accepted as an effective method for assisting management in evaluating different operational alternatives. It can help improve existing emergency departments (EDs) and assist in planning and designing new EDs. In order to increase the acceptance of simulation in healthcare systems in general and EDs in particular, hospital management should be directly involved in the development of these projects. Such involvement will also bolster the model´s credibility. In addition, it is important to simplify simulation processes as much as is reasonably possible and use visual aids or animation that will heighten users´ confidence in the model´s ability. This study lays the foundation for the development of a simulation tool which is general, flexible, intuitive, simple to use and contains default values for most of the system´s parameters.