Effectiveness of Mathematical and Simulation Models for Improving Quality of Care in Emergency Departments: A Systematic Literature Review

The purpose of this systematic literature review is to critically evaluate the use of mathematical and simulation models within emergency departments (EDs) and assess their potential to improve the quality of care. This review emphasizes the critical need for quality enhancement in health care systems, with a specific focus on EDs.This review incorporates studies that have investigated the quality of care provided in ED settings, employing assorted mathematical and simulation models for adult populations. Based on the selected studies, a narrative approach was used to synthesize the findings, focusing on outcome classification, simulation, and modelling. There are six outcome dimensions: safety, effectiveness, patient-centeredness, timeliness, efficiency, and equity.This review analyzed 112 studies, uncovering a distinct focus on a set of key performance measures within ED operations, accounting for 222 instances across these studies. Measures assessing timeliness were most frequent, occurring 111 times, indicative of a strong emphasis on operational efficiency aspects such as waiting times and patient flow. A total of 75 examinations were conducted on efficiency-related measures, with a specific focus on identifying and addressing operational bottlenecks and optimizing resource utilization. On the other hand, safety, patient-centeredness, and effectiveness were not as commonly represented, with only 3, 4, and 29 instances, respectively.This review highlights the considerable potential of mathematical and simulation models to enhance ED operations, particularly regarding timeliness and efficiency. However, aspects such as patient safety, effectiveness, and patient-centeredness were underrepresented, while equity was absent across the studies, indicating a clear need for further research. These findings emphasize the importance of adopting a more thorough approach to evaluating and improving the quality of emergency care. Future research should also concentrate on refining data management practices, incorporating observational studies, and exploring various simulation tools to develop a more balanced and inclusive understanding of these models' applications.