Jg. Mcdaniel, DISCRETE-EVENT SIMULATION OF A WIDE-AREA HEALTH-CARE NETWORK, Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 2(4), 1995, pp. 220-237
Citations number
24
Categorie Soggetti
Information Science & Library Science","Medicine Miscellaneus","Computer Science Information Systems
Objective: Predict the behavior and estimate the telecommunication cos
t of a wide-area message store-and-forward network for hearth care pro
viders that uses the telephone system. Design: A tool with which to pe
rform large-scale discrete-event simulations was developed. Network mo
dels for star and mesh topologies were constructed to analyze the diff
erences in performances and telecommunication costs. The distribution
of nodes in the network models approximates the distribution of physic
ians, hospitals, medical labs, and insurers in the Province of Saskatc
hewan, Canada. Modeling parameters were based on measurements taken fr
om a prototype telephone network and a survey conducted at two medical
clinics. Simulation studies were conducted for both topologies. Resul
ts: For either topology, the telecommunication cost of a network in Sa
skatchewan is projected to be less than $100 (Canadian) per month per
node. The estimated telecommunication cost of the star topology is app
roximately half that of the mesh. Simulations predict that a mean end-
to-end message delivery time of two hours or less is achievable at thi
s cost. A doubling of the data volume results in an increase of less t
han 50% in the mean end-to-end message transfer time. Conclusion: The
simulation models provided an estimate of network performance and tele
communication cost in a specific Canadian province. At the expected op
erating point, network performance appeared to be relatively insensiti
ve to increases in data volume. Similar results might be anticipated i
n other rural states and provinces in North America where a telephone-
based network is desired.