Application of discrete event simulation for performance evaluation in private healthcare: The case of a radiology department

Abstract

Radiology departments face tremendous challenges to meet specific service requirements and reach an acceptable level of patients’ satisfaction. This requires dedicated management attention and effective decision-making process. It is of utmost importance for the management to evaluate the effectiveness of the applied strategies in comparison with the proposed strategies for the performance evaluation of resources. The main goal of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the applied and proposed management strategies for managing resources in a radiology department of private healthcare facilities. Data were collected regarding the service time and arrival rates. A model is constructed on the Arena simulation software to investigate different strategies of management in a private healthcare facility. The study evidenced that the newly applied strategy is more effective compared to the old one, but there is room for improvement in the services provided to treat all patients on the same day upon arrival with no rescheduled patients. The study demonstrated that the proposed strategy will enable the healthcare facility to treat all patients on the same day upon arrival with no rescheduled patients. In addition to that, the study revealed that the management of private healthcare facilities in Saudi Arabia is more efficient and effective compared to the management of the public healthcare facilities. The study also demonstrated how the Arena simulation software can be utilized to evaluate the effectiveness of the management decision-making process.