Modelling within simul8 (a discrete event simulation package)

Abstract: A Discrete Event Simulation (DES) methodology has many advantages over a Markov approach including incorporation of patient history without multiple health states, simple incorporation of distributions where the hazard changes across time and in the speed of processing. The advantages of DES modelling will be the focus of the workshop.

A brief introduction to DES will be provided. A model constructed for a recent HTA report evaluating silver donating dressing for venous leg ulcers will be presented. The model, which included covariates, correlations and Weibull distributions was completed in a significantly shorter period than a counterpart Markov model built in Excel.

Further advantages of DES, that were not applicable to the venous leg ulcer project will also be discussed.