Document Type
Thesis - University Access Only
Award Date
2011
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department / School
Industrial Management
Abstract
Emergency department is the most highly congested unit that faces greater pressure of healthcare services compared with other departments of healthcare delivery system. It is often confronted with a prolonged patient stay resulting to emergency department overcrowding problem. It has become critical for healthcare industry to reduce emergency department overcrowding for smooth operations of emergency activities. The National Academy of Engineering and The Institute of Medicine recommend implementing system engineering tools and techniques into healthcare delivery system. The research is to study and analyze operational activities of emergency department of a clinic by using an appropriate system engineering tool called "Discrete Event Simulation", and propose modifications for it to reduce lengthy stay of patients inside the emergency department so that patients can be transferred to other departments on time for further treatment. Discrete Event Simulation helped to analyze issues of emergency department operations, and improved operational performance by identifying and removing bottleneck of the system. The process of sepsis resuscitation has been modeled in the research. The average length of stay of sepsis patients inside the emergency department is reduced by 7% by the simulation study.
Library of Congress Subject Headings
Emergency medical services -- Management -- Computer simulation
Hospitals -- Emergency services -- Management -- Computer simulation
Septicemia -- Patients
Format
application/pdf
Number of Pages
106
Publisher
South Dakota State University
Recommended Citation
Gurung, Nitu, "A Study of System Engineering Techniques for Healthcare Delivery : Simulation Analysis of Emergency Department Operations" (2011). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1783.
https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd2/1783