A Survey of Agent-Based Modeling of Hospital Environments

Abstract

Agent-based modeling has become a viable alternative and complement-to-traditional analysis methods for studying complex social environments. In this paper, we survey the role of agent-based modeling within hospital settings, where agent-based models investigate patient flow and other operational issues as well as the dynamics of infection spread within hospitals or hospital units. While there is a rich history of simulation and modeling of hospitals and hospital units, relatively little work exists, which applies agent-based models to this context.