Two simulation applications to outpatient clinics

This paper describes two applications of simulation modeling for outpatient clinics in a major urban medical center. The first application was developed for the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Clinic where patients first see the physician and; when the physician requires a hearing test to be done immediately before a diagnosis can be made and treatment prescribed, then the patients see an audiologist.The simulation model tested various scheduling policies for scheduling patients for ENT physicians to provide a uniform hearing test load to the audiologists. In the other application, a simulation model was developed for a general practice medical clinic. This model provided results on patient waiting times and utilization levels for resources at different staffing levels and configurations of reception areas, nursing areas and combination office/exam rooms. The experience with the two models indicated that simulation modeling can be of great help in testing various strategies and configurations and thus assisting in the development of efficient and cost-effective outpatient clinics