Entries in Capacity Planning (12)
Thursday
Oct012009
Simulating the Johns Hopkins Comprehensive Transplant Center
Johns Hopkins Medical Institute
The number of chronic disease cases is growing at phenomenal rates as our general population ages. End-stage diseases of all the major organs: heart, lung, liver, kidney and pancreas ultimately rely on transplantation as the only means remaining to return a patient to reasonable health.
Because of this growth in demand, the line of patients waiting to receive organ transplants is seemingly endless. Aside from the fact that there are not enough organs being donated to meet this need, the transplant community's next biggest problem is having sufficient resources to meet the increasing demand.
Capacity PlanningWednesday
Sep302009
Reducing Cycle Times: Evaluating the American Red Cross' Blood Donor Testing Process
American Red Cross
In the United States, someone needs blood approximately every two seconds. With the American Red Cross providing 50% of this supply, this translates to 6.9 million samples being tested each year. In 1991, the American Red Cross consolidated its network of 53 original Red Cross testing laboratories into nine state-of-the-art facilities. Implementation of standardized operating procedures, training and equipment at the nine National Testing Laboratories (NTLs) improved quality control, facilitated the adoption of new technology, and maximized sample flow and flexibility. Currently, ninety-five percent of all blood is tested within 15 hours from the time the blood samples are received by the NTL; 99 percent of all blood is tested within 24-hours. In an effort to both improve on this high service standard and lower costs, the National Testing and Reference Laboratory Headquarters looked to simulation as a potential tool.
Tuesday
Sep292009
Homeless Services Bed Capacity Simulation
New York City Department of Homeless Services
New York City’s Department of Homeless Services is subject to a ‘Right to Shelter Law’. Simply put, this means that anyone who presents themselves to a shelter must be given a bed. NovaSim developed a simulation model that allows NYC DHS to plan its bed capacity, so that they can be sure to match the highly variable, seasonable demand for shelter.
Tuesday
Sep292009
Patient Flow Simulation
US Government Department of Indian Health Services
A generalized discrete event simulation tool was utilized for the analysis of client flows in a system of 13 outpatient clinics for the US Government's Indian Health Services (IHS) Organization in Billings, MT. This tool, used by IHS analysts, with support from NovaSim, helped to redesign their client flows in order to better serve client needs.
Tuesday
Sep292009
Emergency Department Simulation
Johns Hopkins Medical Institute
A comprehensive study of three Emergency Departments within the Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System. This project involved initial process analysis, a large data collection and analysis effort, as well as the development of a discrete event simulation model. Using the first site as a baseline, we developed a generalized tool that was then applied to the final two Emergency Departments in the system. As part of this project, we have had to work with and understand the bed allocation policies in the larger hospital setting.