Agent-Based Simulation of Emergency Departments with Patient Diversion

Abstract

We describe an agent based model of an emergency department and its utility for evaluating workflow and assessing patient diversion policies. The overall goal of the research is to develop tools to better understand and manage emergency departments. There are several modes in which agent based modeling tools may be of benefit. In a self contained manner the operation of an emergency department can be modeled. In this mode, policies such as staffing could be changed and the effect on parameters such as waiting times and throughput could be quantified. In an extended version, multiple emergency departments can be modeled and would allow for the evaluation of ambulance or patient redirection policies. In either case we also suggest an effective means of augmenting the simulation with empirical data collected using a proximity location and tracking system within an emergency department. Our agent based model allows for a simulation of a number of emergency departments and introduces a method of extracting real time patient data from emergency departments throughout a city allowing for the evaluation of patient diversion policies.