A Translational Roadmap to Create the Future of Simulation in Healthcare

The chapter proposes a translational simulation in healthcare roadmap to a version of the future that we might want to create: pervasive, lifelong, evidence-based, cost-effective simulation training that improves patient outcomes in terms of safety (reduced complications, morbidity, and mortality), quality, and cost of care. We describe some general approaches that might help us create a version of the future of simulation in healthcare and ways to get there quicker. A modification of the return on investment equation is proposed that explicitly takes into account simulator idleness on the premise that an idle simulator is not generating a return. Different ways to reduce cost of simulation are described including simulator development (e.g., reuse, repurpose modular simulator elements, including hardware and software; select the right simulation technology based on the main type of skills that trainees are seeking to acquire or maintain) and cost of ownership and operation (e.g., as an analogy to driverless cars, instructor-less simulators designed for self-study and self-debriefing).