An Autonomic Computing Framework for Self-managed Emergency Departments

The delivery of cost-effective and quality Emergency Department (ED) services remains an important and ongoing challenge for the healthcare industry. ED overcrowding has become a common problem in hospitals around the world, threatening the safety of patients who rely on timely emergency treatment. Despite numerous advances in medical procedures and technologies, EDs continue to experience overcrowding problems. The combination of increased demand and diminished resources makes optimizing emergency departments a difficult problem for healthcare decision makers. We examine this problem by applying an autonomic computing framework for self-managed emergency departments to maintain optimal Quality of Service (QoS) during its operation. Our work has potential implications in guiding a hospital’s effort to optimize their emergency department system.