Productivity Improvement through Computer Simulation: Analysis of Staff Utilization Prior to Facility Occupation

摘要

The Fort Monroe' Health Clinic is in the process of preparing to move into a fully renovated facility. Key staff members determined they had a window of opportunity to examine and improve their clinic operations before reoccupation. The tool of computer simulation was selected to assist in that effort. The purpose of the study was to reduce patient utilization of the waiting room. This was done by projecting the status quo clinic operations into the renovated clinic (Base Model) and comparing the results against a proposed medical specialist-physician work relationship combined with an alternative location for screening patients (Alternate Model). The Base Model was designed and tested for validity before creating the Alternate Model of the staff's proposal. Both models were run through two possible scenarios involving medical specialist personnel losses. Comparison of the model outputs revealed that the Alternate Model, under both scenarios, generated lower waiting room utilization rates than those of the Base Model.