A Simulation Study to Improve Performance in the Preparation and Delivery of Antineoplastic Medications at a Community Hospital

Abstract

In this paper, we introduce a simulation study to improve the antineoplastic medication preparation and delivery performance at a pharmacy department in a large community hospital. The goal of this work is to help pharmacy reduce patients' average waiting time when receiving chemotherapy. This will be achieved by simulating and analyzing the preparation and delivery procedures to identify process bottlenecks, carry out what-if analysis, predict the impact of improvement effort, and provide recommendations to hospital leadership. Using the simulation model, we discover that by introducing early preparation for the returning patients and dedicating an infusion staff member for medication delivery, patients' waiting time for antineoplastic medications can be reduced substantially. Such improvements do not require additional floor space or significant investment. The recommendation has been accepted by hospital management and implemented in the pharmacy department. The preliminary results have verified the simulation output with the desired improvement predicted by the model.

Clustering and Stochastic Simulation Optimization for Outpatient Chemotherapy Appointment Planning and Scheduling

“…Different simulation models have been used to address several OCP challenges. Scholars focused on using discrete event simulation to improve OCA planning and scheduling [ 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 ]. Furthermore, scenario-based analysis has been used to study the effect of capacity planning and scheduling sequencing heuristics on overtime and waiting time [ 52 ].…”

Solving Problems of Interruptions and Multitasking in the Pharmacy of a Large Hospital Centre

“…Different approaches to pharmacy process improvement have been found in literature, including implementation of automation [16], simulations and mathematical optimization [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26], and improvement methodologies [27][28][29]. James et al [16] investigated the influence of automation on reducing errors in dispensation of medication.…”

“…Lu et al [17] investigated a hospital pharmacy at a Community hospital and simulated the process of delivery of a medications ordered by the hospital. Results obtained from the simulation model were used as a recommendation to improve the delivery of medications ordered by the hospital.…”