A Simulation Model to Compare Strategies for the Reduction of Health-Care Associated Infections

Interfaces May/June 2009 Vol. 39 No. 3 256-270

University of Alberta School of Business Research Paper No. 2013-170

Posted: 29 Jun 2013

See all articles by Reidar Hagtvedt

Reidar Hagtvedt

University of Alberta - Department of Accounting, Operations & Information Systems

Paul M. Griffin

Georgia Institute of Technology - The H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial & Systems Engineering (ISyE)

Pinar Keskinocak

Georgia Institute of Technology - The H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial & Systems Engineering (ISyE)

Rebecca Roberts

Independent

Date Written: June 1, 2008

Abstract

Cook County Hospital, like many hospitals in the United States and worldwide, is pursuing a strategy to combat health-care associated infections (HAIs). In the United States, approximately two million people are infected each year and over 100,000 die. In this paper, an interdisciplinary team of researchers from Georgia Tech and Cook County Hospital, with backgrounds in engineering, economics, and medicine, analyze the flow of pathogens. We combine infection rates and cost data to build a discrete-event simulation model to capture the complex relationships between hand hygiene, isolation, demand, and costs. We find that both hand hygiene and isolation policies have a significant impact on rates of infection, and that a complex interplay between factors exists. This suggests that a systems-level approach to infection-control procedures will be required to contain health-care associated infections.

Keywords: health care, health-care associated infections, discrete-event simulation

Suggested Citation

Hagtvedt, Reidar and Griffin, Paul M. and Keskinocak, Pinar and Roberts, Rebecca, A Simulation Model to Compare Strategies for the Reduction of Health-Care Associated Infections (June 1, 2008). Interfaces May/June 2009 Vol. 39 No. 3 256-270, University of Alberta School of Business Research Paper No. 2013-170, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2274189

Reidar Hagtvedt (Contact Author)

University of Alberta - Department of Accounting, Operations & Information Systems ( email )

Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2R6
Canada

Paul M. Griffin

Georgia Institute of Technology - The H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial & Systems Engineering (ISyE) ( email )

765 Ferst Drive
Atlanta, GA 30332-0205
United States
404-894-2431 (Phone)

Pinar Keskinocak

Georgia Institute of Technology - The H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial & Systems Engineering (ISyE) ( email )

765 Ferst Drive
Atlanta, GA 30332-0205
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www2.isye.gatech.edu/people/faculty/Pinar_Keskinocak/

Rebecca Roberts

Independent ( email )

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