Background: In rural and remote Australia, prehospital stroke care is challenging due to the large geographical distances. The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) has a major role in improving access to stroke care in these areas as it provides primary health care and emergency aeromedical retrieval in rural and remote Australia, coordinated by state health services. Interactive visual simulation modelling supports the understanding and improvement of complex prehospital stroke care systems that are difficult to experiment with in real-life without disrupting current processes of care.
Aim: To demonstrate an interactive visual simulation model for understanding and improving the prehospital stroke care system in rural Australia.
Methods: An interactive visual simulation model was developed and validated through iterative sessions with domain experts: (i) using value-focused process engineering to model structures, processes, and interactions between system components, and (ii) utilising dynamic visualisation features of the AnyLogic simulation software.
Results: The model includes three unique views: (i) on-screen dynamic tracing of patient demand and RFDS resources on a real geospatial map of South Australia; (ii) the dynamic progression of the patient care pathway with a visual representation of the treatment eligibility timeline; (iii) continuously updating system-wide summary statistics of process times, resource utilisation and patient outcomes across a patient population.
Conclusion: We have demonstrated that interactive visual simulation modelling can be used to enhance the understanding of complex prehospital stroke care systems. This assisted SA Health and the RFDS to improve access to stroke care in rural and remote Australia.