A Queue-Based Monte Carlo Analysis of the Efficacy of Emergency Department Fast Tracks

Abstract

This study examines and evaluates the impact of implementing a “fast track” for low-acuity patients in a mid-sized community hospital emergency department, using a queue-based Monte Carlo simulation. The model also expands the queueing system to account for other emergency department factors such as dynamic arrival rates, Left Without Being Seen rates and nurse shifts/utilization from historical data. In this specific hospital case, repurposing the EP wing (5 beds) of the hospital, which is located next to the main emergency department, to care for low-acuity emergency patients, may assist providers in reducing overall patient wait times and Left Without Being Seen rates. EP would not need to operate all the time, but could be staffed by one nurse and a physician or mid-level provider for an 8-hour shift five to seven days per week.