Overcoming Challenges in Hybrid Simulation Design and Experiment

The purpose of this paper is to present the concept of modules and interfaces for a hybrid simulation model that forecasts demand for healthcare services on the regional level. The interface, developed with the Visual Basic for Application programming tools for spreadsheets, enables comprehensive planning of simulation experiment for the combined model that operates based on two different simulation paradigms: continuous and discrete-event. This paper presents the capabilities of the developed tools and discusses the results of the conducted experiments. The cross-sectional age-gender specific demographic parameters describing population of two subregions of Lower Silesia were calculated based on historical data retrieved from Central Statistical Office databases. We demonstrated the validity of the developed interface. The model correctly responded to the seasonal increased intensity of patients arrivals to healthcare system.