Enhancing simulation models for emergency rooms using VBA

Increased pressure to control costs and increased competition has prompted health care managers to look for tools to effectively operate their institutions. Managers are increasingly using simulation modeling to understand their processes. A simulation model of an ER has been enhanced with VBA routines, so that it can use real world data. The simulation model has been complemented with a series of decision-making routines. These routines use a hierarchical approach to organize the various scenarios under which the model may run and to partially reconfigure the ARENA model at run time.