Simulation study helping to solve real world problems in emergency room processes, staffing, and scheduling

Congratulations to the team Lehigh 502 Marcos Leal Wittkowsky, Jose Andres Castillo Anzueto, Rodrigo Gonzalez Masselli and Lehigh ISE Professors Ana I. Alexandrescu and Karmel S. Shehadeh for winning 3rd place in the International FlexSim Student Simulation Competition. Their project involved solving a “real-world” healthcare situation case study using a simulation model to compare three different operational models for a busy emergency department and make recommendations for optimal process flow, staffing, and scheduling.

Forty teams signed up to participate, but only 17 submitted solutions, from which the finalists were chosen. On January 22, 2022, The Lehigh 502 team had a chance to present their project in Orlando, FL, at the annual Healthcare Systems Process Improvement Conference, organized by the IISE Society for Health Systems (SHS). The Society for Health Systems is a society of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) that seeks to improve lives through enhanced health and care delivery systems throughout the world focusing on continuous improvement, innovation, strategic and systems thinking in healthcare.

Team Lehigh 502 impressed the judges with the clarity of their presentation and their results and were able to take home the 3rd place prize (which includes bragging rights and cash).

Jose, Marcos, and Rodrigo are all from Guatemala, where the area code is 502 - hence their team name.