Simulation Model for the Analysis of Patient Pathways and Delivery of Medical Services for Coronary Heart Disease in the Swiss Population

We propose and assess a simulation model for the analysis of patients pathways and the delivery of medical services for coronary heart disease in Switzerland. The model follows the patient pathway from the onset of symptoms to diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. We suggest that the proposed model is a valuable framework to explain empirical data and to test hypotheses with regard to potential overuse of diagnostic interventions. Moreover, it provides a generic cohort model structure to analyze a chronic disease in a population, where prognosis depends on age and time since first event, or the onset of the chronic disease.