A Process Simulation Model for a Histopathology Laboratory

Currently, although simulation models considering pathology departments exist, either in isolation or as part of a larger hospital model, they generally do not consider the individual steps within the histopathology process itself, instead adopting a high-level view of the histopathology laboratory. This prevents the study of policies that can improve efficiency, reduce the laboratory turnaround time (TAT), and/or reduce the staffing costs required to achieve a certain level of laboratory throughput. In this paper, we consider a discrete-event simulation model for a histopathology department at a hospital in the East of England, UK. Our model captures the histopathology department with a higher level of detail than currently exists in the literature, and address some specific simulation challenges that arise from such a modeling approach. We then demonstrate how our simulation model can be used to answer various management questions regarding staffing levels, TAT and the trade-offs between them.