Abstract 1038

Background: Many clients of STD clinics are at high risk for exposure to Hepatitis B. This study describes a computer simulation to incorporate selective vaccination of STD clients with Hepatitis B vaccine.

Objective: The clinic manager would like to gain insight in the following questions: (1) Will this change be feasible and cost effective? (2) Will it disrupt the current flow of the clinic? If so, what changes are needed? (3) Will more resources be required?

Methods: Discrete-event computer simulation (DECS) will be used to evaluate multiple managerial decisions in the STD clinic without disturbing its operations. DECS is able to simulate demand for services and service statistics that managers frequently use to make decisions, such as the utilization of resources (physicians, nurses, clerks, rooms, beds, machinery), scheduling resources; the average waiting time for a patient to seize a resource(s); the amount of time a patient spends in the waiting room; the average length of a line; etc.

Results: A pictorial model is presented which permits the manager to observe the length of the lines, when a station is busy, and when resources are idle. This makes it easier for the decision-maker to anticipate the problem(s) that the clinic may have in offering services, be able to make changes, and estimate the effects of such changes. In addition to answering the questions listed in the objective section, the model answers the following questions: (1) Is the clinic currently operating at peak efficiency? (2) Where are the current bottlenecks in the system? (3) Is it physically and economically feasible to increase the efficiency of the clinic?

Learning objective: At the conclusion of this presentation, participants should be able to identify what is DECS and identify the ways simulation can assist in making managerial decisions in a clinical setting where expansion of services to include vaccination is under consideration.