SIMSCRIPT Solutions

Health Care

Patient Flow Analysis Simulation - PFA

Centers for Disease Control; Atlanta, GA

The Patient Flow Analysis (PFA) model is capable of reproducing virtually all-possible changes within a health clinic. The basic function of the model is to eliminate all wasted time spent by the patient waiting to receive services and by the staff member waiting to provide services. For example, if a patient is waiting for a lab contact, and a staff member to whom the lab task is assigned is available, a lab contact is initiated.

Using the results of the simulation model, the patient flow in one clinic was redesigned. The following statistics show the improved performance of the clinic following the implementation of changes suggested by the simulation:

Improved Performance of the Clinic

	Before	After	% Change
Number of Patients Served	20	27	+35
Average Patient Time in Clinic (min.)	143	84	-41
Maximum Patient Time in Clinic (min.)	270	160	-41
% of Personnel Time Serving Patients	53	67	+26
Personnel Cost: Initial Visit	$14.58	$6.84	-53
Annual Visit	$12.06	$5.74	-52
Medical Problem	$5.03	$5.15	+2

Customer Quote: "Improvements in clinic operations can be obtained when intelligent management and dedicated staff use the simulations as a tool and catalyst for positive change."