Customize healthcare activity sets

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An activity set is a set of pre-configured activities that are bundled together into a container and represent a specific task.

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Within an activity set, you can add, remove, modify, or rearrange activities as needed.

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Remember that you must link the activities within a set to the corresponding entities in your model to create an accurate simulation.

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In this example, a model of a clinic is built and includes a waiting area, a registration desk with a clerk,

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a nurse station, exam tables, and a scale.

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There is also a prebuilt A* navigation to control the paths that the patients and staff members will travel.

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In the Patient Flow, the process begins with a Source to generate patients.

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When a patient enters the model, they wait in line to check in at the registration desk with the Wait in Line then Process activity set.

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The next task, Process, is the only one that is not an activity set.

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This was created by adding container and then the individual activities, Acquire Location, Walk,

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and Release Location to represent waiting in the waiting room.

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You can rename each activity set to represent the task.

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Here, the first Escort then Process Activity is renamed “Weight at Scale”, since the patient will be escorted to the scale and weighed.

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The second is renamed “Escort to Exam Room”.

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Process with Staff is then used for the appointment and renamed “Meet with Doctor”.

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Finally, Escort to Exit ends the patient flow.

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The first two sets are renamed “Sign in” and “Waiting Room”.

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Now, the resources within each set need to be linked to the appropriate entity in your model.

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In Sign in, open the Waiting Line Quick Properties, click the Sampler, and then select WaitingLine1 to link the two.

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For Location, sample Registration1.

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Then, for Staff, sample Clerk1.

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You can also rename activities or resources—here, rename Staff to “Clerk”.

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When you update a resource name, the linked activities automatically update as well, as you see here with Clerk and Registration Desk.

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Next, in the Process Quick Properties, adjust the settings as needed.

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Here, the Process Time is set to 30.

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Next, in the Waiting Room, for Location Resource, sample the waiting area, or Chairs1.

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Again, these activities were added manually, so there is some additional setup.

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Link the Acquire location and Release location activities to the Location Resource.

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Additionally, combine Acquire Location, Walk, and Release Location into an activity block.

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In Weight at Scale, for Location1, sample Scale1, and then rename the Resource “Scale”.

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For Staff1, sample RN1, and then name it “Nurse”.

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For the next activity, you want the same nurse to escort the patient to the exam room without being released.

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Select the Weight at Scale activity block, click and drag the Release Nurse out of the block, and then, delete it.

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Similarly, in the Escort To Exam Room activity block, delete the Acquire Staff activity.

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For Escort to Exam Room, you want the same nurse who weighed the patient to escort them to the exam room.

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For Staff3, instead of sampling the nurse in the model, you can just sample the Nurse in the Weight at Scale.

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Note the asterisk on this Resource.

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Next, for Location2, sample Exam Table1, and in the menu, select the previously created ExamTables group.

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Then, rename the resource to “Exam Table”.

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To prevent the release of the exam table before meeting with the Doctor, remove Release Exam Table from the Escort to Exam Room block.

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Drag and place the table in the Escort to Exit below Escort Patient, to release it when the patient leaves.

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Back in Escort to Exam Room, since the Nurse does not need to process the patient, set the Process Time to 0.

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Next, in the Meet with Doctor set, for Staff2, sample MD1, then rename the Resource “Doctor”.

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Then, set the Process Time to 5 minutes.

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Note that you can also change the State of the involved objects.

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In this case, the Doctor is ProvidingCare,

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but you can select State > Staff to select from other options, such as performing a task or having a break.

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Using the appropriate state helps you to more accurately represent your end-to-end flow

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and provides more detailed statistics for analysis later.

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The final activity set is Escort to Exit.

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For Staff4, sample the Nurse and then, for the Exit, sample Glass Door1.

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The rest of the activity set is already set up to release the Exam table, release the Nurse, and remove the patient from the model.

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Now, you can Reset and Run the model.

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Watch as the patient enters and checks in, waits in the waiting area, is escorted to the scale, proceeds to the Exam Room,

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meets with the Doctor, and finally, is escorted to the exit.

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Now you can modify and customize the activity sets in your healthcare model to create an accurate representation of your process.