Improving resource allocation efficiency in health care delivery systems

There is general agreement on the factors that must be analyzed and considered in order to arrive at effective resource management solutions. The use of modeling and simulation as decision tools in service delivery systems has been growing rapidly. Modeling and simulation methodologies have been used in order to capture the interrelationships among the factors and variables involved in resource management of service organizations. In this study, a new framework for improving resource management in the health care delivery system is proposed. The underlying principle of the new approach is based on the participation and involvement of all stakeholders at the early stages of model development. Additionally, the modeling process is an iterative one that is governed by the views and inputs of the stakeholders rather than by pre-specified requirements and objectives. Another important aspect of the proposed approach is that it provides a mechanism for evaluating system performance and identifying activities that have considerable impact on performance as well as activities that have minimum added value within the service delivery system. The new proposed approach was used to develop a generic model for the emergency department at Zayed Hospital, Abu Dhabi. The approach was found to be effective in improving the utilization efficiency of human and material resources and in decreasing patient length-of-stay