SSH Forum on Modeling and Simulation

The SSH Forum on Modeling & Simulation will take place on 12 - 13 January 2018 (prior to IMSH 2018) in Los Angeles.

Modeling and Simulation (M&S) has become a powerful, ubiquitous but often little understood tool in many aspects of healthcare. Simulation-based engineering and science involves the use of computer M&S to solve mathematical formulations of physical models of engineered and natural systems.  Per the Global report on International Assessment of Research And Development in Simulation-based Engineering And Science  “No field of science or engineering exists that has not been advanced by, and in some cases transformed by, computer simulation. With the great advancement of computer and information technology, it has the predictive capability can complement the traditional pillars of theory and experimentation/observation to human society to advance the science.”

The Forum will engage stakeholders in exploring the broader science and engineering application of M&S within healthcare.  It will provide a venue to facilitate dialogue between practitioners, trainers, researchers, vendors and policy makers from healthcare and engineering communities:

• NIH NIBIB Interagency Modeling and Analysis Group (IMAG) and its Multi-Scale Modeling Consortium
  
• Winter Simulation Conference
  
• The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) Healthcare
  
• Medical Device Innovation Consortium Computer Modeling and Simulation Group
  
• INCOSE Biomedical Working Group
  
• Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
  
• International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research Simulation Modeling Emerging Good Practices Task Force
  
• The Cumberland Initiative (UK)
  
• Avicenna Alliance Association for Predictive Medicine
  

The SSH Modeling& Simulation Forum will include sessions, workshops, posters and exhibits.  Topics may include:

• Complexity of healthcare delivery in the current environment
  
• Understanding systems engineering prospective to improve healthcare quality and safety
  
• M&S application for business innovation in aerospace, oil industry, auto industry , and entertainment.
  
• Creditable practices of modeling and simulation in healthcare
  
• Common simulation applications  (discrete event simulation, agent based modeling, system dynamics) in different abstractions levels of healthcare delivery system
  
• Multi-scale modeling and hybrid modeling technique
  
• System biology and other computational bioscience
  
• Model-based design and innovation
  
• Regulatory M&S application for devices and medication development
  
• Population modeling applications to healthcare
  
• Healthcare operation management and Lean-Six Sigma
  
• Public health, health care policy and global impact
  
• Virtual reality and argument regality
  
• Big data analytics and M&S
  
• Leadership and change management 

SSH Healthcare Systems Modeling and Simulation Affinity Group

In January 2013, the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH) Healthcare Systems Modeling & Simulation Affinity Group (HSMSAG) was created to connect professionals who use constructive and computational M&S technology in healthcare systems and human factors engineering and modeling in biological systems. Over the last four years, the HSMSAG has grown to 2000 members who interact on SimConnect. The HSMSAG engages the broad community via face to face meetings, website, YouTube webinar and LinkedIn communications. 

Simulation in healthcare predominately is a training technique that provides a safe environment to healthcare practitioners to acquire valuable experience without patient harm. M&S also can be used as test-bed to study the interactions between in the complex systems and sub-systems and test new processes interventions before clinical application. M&S applications have been applied to system biology, disease mechanisms modeling, drug/device design and development, provider workflow/process, hospital operations, and public healthcare policy at different spatial and time scales. 

While the HSMSAG connects diverse professionals, these individuals typically work on their healthcare M&S applications in silos. Therefore, there are few if any venues where they can share their work within their professional domains. The academia researchers have difficulty connecting with front line clinicians and clinicians can’t reach scholars who are siloed by medicine and engineering disciplines. Collaboration is need to learn how to apply those tools to define, measure, analyze, and improve systems performance in the healthcare delivery process, with the ultimate goal to improve patient safety, quality of care and outcomes.

Further information can be found here