Health care management modelling: a process perspective

Modelling-based health care management ought to become just as popular as evidence based medicine. Making managerial decisions based on evidence by modelling efforts is certainly a step forward. Examples can be given of many successful applications in different areas of decision making: disease process modelling, screening and prevention policy development, resource allocation, waiting lists and waiting times, patient scheduling. Also examples can be given which would have benefited by prior modelling, for example adverse effects of health care system reform decisions. This contribution aims at giving an overview of health care management modelling areas, and observations from a European perspective on developing successful health care management models. The overview is created by presenting different reference frameworks for mapping health care management modelling applications. We report a development from an almost arbitrary list of applications used for bibliographic purposes (scheduling, simulation, queueing, etc.) towards frameworks that focus on the process of delivery. The advantage of mapping modelling applications in this way is that we are able to position contributions within a reference framework with a focus on processes, with the patient process at the top. The acceptance of process-orientation as a basis for modelling has consequences for the way models are developed. Close cooperation between modeller and manager and a profound insight into the dynamics of the modelling area concerned are important requirements for developing successful models. This is illustrated for waiting lists as an area of modelling.