Healthcare industry in United States of America is facing a big paradox. Although
US is a leader in the industry of medical devices, medical practices and medical
researches, however there isnt enough satisfaction and quality in performance of US
healthcare operations. Despite the big investments and budgets associated with US
healthcare, there are big threats to US healthcare operational side, that reduces the
quality of care. In this research study, a step by step Systems Engineering approach
is applied to improve healthcare delivery process in an Emergency Department of
a hospital located in Indianapolis, Indiana. In this study, different type of systems
engineering tools and techniques are used to improve the quality of care and patients
satisfaction in ED of Eskenazi hospital. Having a simulation model will help to have
a better understanding of the ED process and learn more about the bottlenecks of
the process. Simulation model is verified and validated using different techniques
like applying extreme and moderate conditions and comparing model results with
historical data. 4 different what if scenarios are proposed and tested to find out
about possible LOS improvements. Additionally, those scenarios are tested in both
regular and an increased patient arrival rate. The optimal selected what-if scenario
can reduce the LOS by 37 minutes compared to current ED setting. Additionally,
by increasing the patient arrival rate patients may stay in the ED up to 6 hours.
However, with the proposed ED setting, patients will only spend an additional 106
minutes compared to the regular patient arrival rate.