Ambulight PDT, in particular, is a light-emitting sticking plaster for the treatment of non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC). Simple and easily applied, the plasters are used in Photodynamic therapy (PDT), which is an established alternative to surgery for many forms of skin cancer.
It was important for Ambicare to demonstrate the impact of introducing Ambulight PDT into the basal cell carcinoma care pathway. They understood that while medical device companies can demonstrate that a product works, most health services purchasers are interested in seeing the impact of introducing a new product on their overall care pathway, including resources and costs. Purchasers want to know the return on investment for the product in terms of staff time saved, resources used, and patient outcomes.
Ambicare Health worked with Pathway Communications and SIMUL8 Corporation to develop a simulation to demonstrate how the introduction of their product would impact on a care pathway. Simulation allows users to model a virtual system and understand the impact of change by showing the patient flow through a pathway over time. The pathway is driven by the likely numbers of patients with basal cell carcinoma in a community.
At the end of the simulation Ambicare and their customer can see the impact of introducing the product, but can also test a range of other scenarios, including understanding the likely demand for services in the next few years, and what would happen if more hospital services were delivered in the community.
If you're considering simulation for your next project, our team are happy to help.
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