Using IoT Technologies and Simulation as Building Blocks for a Digital Twin in a Clinical Care Environment.

With the fast development of IoT technologies and the potential of real-time data gathering, allowing decision makers to take advantage of real-time visibility on their processes, the rise of Digital Twins (DT) has attracted several research interests. DT are among the highest technological trends for the near future and some applications in services are provided by the scientific community. While the application of DT in healthcare is mainly focused on the digital patient, our research project analyzes the impact of applying DTs for improving healthcare daily operations management. In this research paper, we analyze the impact of using a digital twin in a clinic that provides care and support services to marginalized people suffering from addiction. Following a "design science" research approach, we develop (i) an IoT prototype for real-time patient and resource tracking, (ii) a hybrid simulation model to represent clinic's daily operations, and (iii) build our DT prototype. Our IoT Lab is used as a testbed research environment to develop the IoT infrastructure and simulate the implementation of the DT. While the prototype is developed for a specific clinic, the approach can be applied to any other healthcare operational environment where real-time visibility and decision support based on simulation is needed.