Develop Theories and Methodologies for Improved Treatment Times in Integrated Emergency Department Systems

急诊科(ED)努力有效地为特定疾病提供治疗。治疗延误的根本原因往往是急诊室的上游或下游，因为卫生保健系统是相互连接的。此外，延误治疗的后果往往发生在急诊室下游。因此，我们需要更好地了解这些外部因素，并开发模型和模拟，考虑ED之外的因素，以充分描述问题的特征。通过这项研究计划，我的目标是开发理论和方法，以显著改善治疗时间，从而获得更好的患者结果。开展这项研究计划的方法将有三个关键主题：1.通过数据分析和可视化了解外部因素对ED治疗效率的关联-健康数据可以帮助我们更好地了解与上游和/或下游变量的相互联系的细节。健康数据越来越多地变得可用，有了患者层面的数据链接，就有可能获得丰富的大数据集。数据分析和新颖的数据交互可视化可以揭示上游和下游变量相互作用的模式。通过开发统计模型的新的交互式可视化和数据分析可以揭示与外部变量的关联2.开发数学模型以最小化ED治疗时间-将开发使用运筹学方法的数学模型以最小化中风和心脏病发作的ED治疗时间。建模将包括：线性规划、非线性规划和随机模型。这些优化模型可以为特定疾病的急诊治疗提供新的基准。3.开发包含外部因素的特定疾病急救治疗过程的计算机模拟-将针对中风和心脏病发作等特定疾病的急救治疗过程开发离散事件计算机模拟模型。在实施这些变化之前，这些模拟将用于测试各种情况，以更好地了解这些变化对处理效率的影响。这项研究计划的主要成果将包括新颖的交互式可视化、数学模型和精确的模拟，以优化特定疾病的急救治疗时间。在最初的5年里，将有5名硕士和2名博士生从事这项研究计划的具体方面的工作。

Emergency Departments (ED) struggle to deliver treatments to specific diseases efficiently. Often the root cause of the treatment delays are upstream or downstream of the ED because the health care system is interconnected. Furthermore, the consequences of delayed treatment often occur significantly downstream of the ED. Therefore, we need to better understand these external factors and develop models and simulations that consider factors that are outside of the ED to fully characterize the issues. Through this research program, I aim to develop theories and methodologies to substantially improve treatment times leading to better patient outcomes. The methodology to carry out this research program will have three key themes: 1. Understand the association of external factors on efficiency of ED treatment through data analytics and visualizations - Health data can help us to better understand the details of interconnectedness with upstream and/or downstream variables. Health data is increasingly becoming available, and with data linkages at the patient level, it is possible to obtain rich and big datasets. Data analytics and novel interactive visualizations of the data can reveal patterns of the interplay of upstream and downstream variables. Novel interactive visualizations and data analytics through the development of statistical models can reveal the association with external variables 2. Develop mathematical models to minimize ED treatment times - Mathematical models using operations research methodology will be developed to minimize time to ED treatment for stroke and heart attack. The modeling will include: linear programming, non-linear programming, and stochastic models. These optimization models can provide new benchmarks for ED treatment of specific diseases. 3. Develop computer simulation of the ED treatment process for specific diseases incorporating external factors - Discrete-event computer simulation models will be developed for the ED treatment process of specific diseases such as stroke and heart attack. These simulations will be used to test various scenarios prior to implementing the changes to better understand the effects of the changes on treatment efficiency. The key outputs from this research program will include novel interactive visualizations, mathematical models, and accurate simulations that optimize ED treatment times for specific diseases. In the first 5 years, there will be 5 Master's and 2 PhD students working on specific aspects of this research program.