Discrete-Event Simulation with Consideration for Patient Preference When Scheduling Specialty Telehealth Appointments

Healthcare providers have begun providing care to patients via remote appointments using web-based, synchronous video visits. As this appointment modality becomes increasingly prevalent, decision-makers must consider how to incorporate patient preference for an in-person versus virtual care modality when scheduling future visits. We present a discrete-event simulation that models several potential policies that these decision-makers could use to schedule patients, and demonstrate this simulation in the clinical context of patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease. This simulation provides key metrics for decision-makers, including provider utilization, patient lead time, and proportion of appointments that satisfy patients’ preferences for appointment modality.