Using simplified discrete-event simulation models for health care applications

Simulation modeling has been around for many years and produced many papers. Arguably, there has been a lack of impact in the health arena, some may say due to modeling such a large, complex, diverse and often interconnected industry. Other observations suggests that academics get rewarded for publishing large complicated models with detailed analysis rather than focusing on the requirements of the environment or the needs of implementation. This paper attempts to add to the modeling debate by suggesting that average simulation process times can act as estimators for real length of stay. This paper will also illustrate how average process time models could be used to help reconfigure emergency care services models. Average time simulation models have the potential to make a valuable contribution to modeling and they support simplified, transparent models with shortened development time.