Applications of simulation within the healthcare context

This is a pre-print of an article published in Journal of the Operation Research Society. The definitive publisher-authenticated version Katsaliaki, K., Mustafee, N.,(2010). Applications of simulation within the healthcare context. Journal of the Operation Research Society. 62, 1431-1451 is available online at: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/jors/journal/v62/n8/full/jors201020a.htmlA large number of studies have applied simulation to a multitude of issues related to healthcare. These studies have been published over a number of unrelated publishing outlets, and this may hamper the widespread reference and use of such resources. In this paper we analyse existing research in healthcare simulation in order to categorise and synthesise it in a meaningful manner. Hence, the aim of this paper is to conduct a review of the literature pertaining to simulation research within healthcare in order to ascertain its current development. A review of approximately 250 high quality journal papers published between 1970 and 2007 on healthcare-related simulation research was conducted. The results present: a classification of the healthcare publications according to the simulation techniques they employ; the impact of published literature in healthcare simulation; a report on demonstration and implementation of the studies’ results; the sources of funding; and the software used. Healthcare planners and researchers will benefit from this study by having ready access to an indicative article collection of simulation techniques applied in healthcare problems that are clustered under meaningful headings. This study facilitates the understanding of the potential of different simulation techniques for solving diverse healthcare problems

Simulation in manufacturing and business: A review

Copyright @ 2009 Elsevier B.V.This paper reports the results of a review of simulation applications published within peer-reviewed literature between 1997 and 2006 to provide an up-to-date picture of the role of simulation techniques within manufacturing and business. The review is characterised by three factors: wide coverage, broad scope of the simulation techniques, and a focus on real-world applications. A structured methodology was followed to narrow down the search from around 20,000 papers to 281. Results include interesting trends and patterns. For instance, although discrete event simulation is the most popular technique, it has lower stakeholder engagement than other techniques, such as system dynamics or gaming. This is highly correlated with modelling lead time and purpose. Considering application areas, modelling is mostly used in scheduling. Finally, this review shows an increasing interest in hybrid modelling as an approach to cope with complex enterprise-wide systems