A cost analysis with the discrete‐event simulation application in nurse and doctor employment management
Abdülkadir Atalan
Abstract
AIM: This study aimed to analyse the treatment cost of a patient, depending on the number of patients treated, patient waiting times, and the number of nurses and doctors employed in an emergency department of a private hospital. BACKGROUND: Within health systems, changes in health care resources can be very costly, especially if these changes are long-term. The discrete-event simulation method described in this paper allows for the monitoring and analysis of complicated changes in real systems by using computer-based modelling. METHOD: The discrete event simulation model was derived from nine scenarios according to the number of nurses and doctors, and a comparison was made between the results of the scenarios and the actual results. RESULTS: Among the scenarios, scenario 6 provided the lowest treatment cost for a patient by employing three doctors and two nurses with the best performance. The cost of treatment for a patient varies between ŧ9.00 and ŧ11.00 depending on the value of δ, and the daily cost of these resources to the hospital is ŧ1300.77. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides a clear picture of a cost analysis comparison based on changes made about the actual health system in the computer-based simulated environment. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: The workforce data of nurses and doctors offers enough detail for cost analysis in health care settings to calculate the cost of treatment for a patient.