Process simulation for significant efficiency gains in clinical departments – a practical example of a cancer clinic

Cost for clinical treatments has been continuously increasing during the last several years. With 10.8% of GNP in 2003 it became the highest in Europe [1]. In order to overcome this problem, in 2004 reimbursements of hospital services based on disease patterns were introduced by the German government [2]. Under these new reimbursement rules hospitals are no longer reimbursed according to the number of days an inpatient is cared for, but on the basis of Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs). This leads to financial restriction for inefficient hospitals that can only be compensated by better processes and cost reductions. Income and profit of hospitals may rise if treatment cost is reduced and the number of patients is increased. Treatment cost is strongly related to treatment time and number of hospital resources used during this time.