A System Dynamics Model for Simulating Ambulatory Health Care Demands

Abstract

This article demonstrates the utility of the system dynamics approach to model and simulate U.S. demand for ambulatory health care service both for the general population and for specific cohort subpopulations over the 5-year period, from 2003 to 2008. A system dynamics approach that is shown to meaningfully project demand for services has implications for health resource planning and for generating knowledge that is critical to assessing interventions. The study uses a cohort-component method in combination with structural modeling to simulate ambulatory health care utilization. Data are drawn from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. The simulation of the total population requiring ambulatory services between 2003 and 2008 is performed to test the functionality and validate the model. Results show a close agreement between the simulated and actual data; the percent error between the two is relatively low, 1.5% on average. In addition, simulations of purposively selected population subsets are executed (men, 18-24 years of age, white, African American, Hispanic, and insurance coverage), resulting in error between simulated and actual data, which is 7.05% on average. The proposed model demonstrates that it is possible to represent and mimic, with reasonable accuracy, the demand for health care services by the total ambulatory population and the demand by selected population subsets. This model and its simulation demonstrate how these techniques can be used to identify disparities among population subsets and a vehicle to test the impact of health care interventions on ambulatory utilization. A system dynamics approach may be a useful tool for policy and strategic planners.