System dynamics simulation modelling technique is taught to students at undergraduate and graduate levels.The students are taught how to develop a system dynamics model of the system under study. This book is written to help students understand the concepts and fundamental elements of system dynamics simulation, and provide a step-by-step guide in conducting a system dynamics study. This book is suitable for students who are studying system dynamics simulation modelling at undergraduate and graduate levels.It offers the concepts and application of system dynamics as well as provides an approach for modelling effectively.Having read this book, the reader will be able to: Learn the concept of system dynamics simulation and its application, Understand the important steps of modelling process, andConduct a system dynamics study successfully.
Emergency departments open 24 hours every day and may receive patients at any time most unexpectedly. Adequate resource planning to meet the various demands in emergency departments is arguably amongst the most critical challenges faced by hospital administrators due to the complexity of the system and diverse patient flows. In this paper, we present a computer simulation model to evaluate resource utilization among personnel and physical resources in a typical emergency department (ED) of a government hospital in Malaysia. The model allows administrators to see patient movement flows as well as how these flows are affected by resource capacity level in the ED. The use of this simulation model helps to evaluate ED operations, provides useful insight for possible areas of improvement, and directs the allocation of specific resources for maximal impact. Three scenarios were tested to find out the impact of patient surge on ED performance measures. Results from the scenarios show that a 30% increase of attendances according to triage zones affects most of the performance measures. In addition, medical assistants are the critical resources with average utilization greater than 70%.
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