Performance Modelling of Patient Flow Scheduling Through a Formal Method

Smart environment is being used in many areas to deliver more services to individuals in a physical space, such as a hospital. In the UK, the National Health Service(NHS) provides free and high quality healthcare service for all residents. Smart hospital environment is able to support NHS and provide more convenience. Patient flow scheduling is a crucial section in a smart hospital environment. Smart hospital environment aims to provide a smart environment in the hospital to facilitate individual experience and improve the quality of healthcare service.First of all, this paper investigates a real world patient flow scenario of a hospital in the UK and models a general scheduling scheme based on the scenario using a compositional formal approach, i.e. performance evaluation process algebra(PEPA). This scheduling scheme uses an easy-implemented solution(the grouping scheme) to reduce the waiting queue in the hospital. Secondly, fluid flow analysis is used for the performance analysis by generating a set of ordinary differential equations(ODEs) in terms of the PEPA model.