In this tutorial task, you'll add some additional locations and staff to the health care
clinic model. Then, you'll learn how to use A* navigation to prevent the patients and staff
members from walking through objects and the floor plan walls. With A* navigation, you can
designate where the patients and staff members can walk and where they cannot.
After that, you'll build more of the patient track for the health care clinic model to
get some additional practice using the FlexSim Healthcare objects and activities.
When you're finished, your simulation model should look similar to the following
image:
Step 1 Add Additional Locations and Staff
In this step, you'll build out a little more of the 3D objects in the health care clinic
by adding some more FlexSim Healthcare locations and staff objects to the model. In this
step, you'll see what it's like to add several copies of the same object at the same time
using the Create Objects mode.
When you're finished, your model should look similar to the following image:
To add these additional 3D objects:
In the Library under the Healthcare group, click the
Location object to open a menu. Click (don't drag) the
Exam Table to enter Create Objects mode. Your mouse pointer
will change to the Create Objects icon
when you're in Create Objects mode. Click the area in the model where you want to add
the first exam table. (Use the image at the beginning of this step to guide you on the
placement of objects.)
While still in Create Objects mode, click inside the model to add a second
Exam Table.
Repeat the previous step to add more Exam Tables until
there are a total of 6 tables in the model. Press Esc or right click to exit Create
Objects mode.
Click Exam Table 3 to select it. In Quick Properties,
change the Z-rotation to
180.00. Repeat this step for Exam Table 4 as
well.
In the Library under the Healthcare group, click the
Prop object to open a menu of prop objects. Drag a
Nurse Station B (under the
Rooms group) into the 3D model.
Click Nurse Station B1 to select it. In Quick
Properties, change the Z-rotation to
90.00.
In the Library under the Healthcare group, click the
Staff object to open a menu of staff objects. Drag an
MD (Female) and an MD (Male)
into the model.
Check to make sure your simulation model looks similar to the image at the beginning of
this step.
Step 2 Create Additional Object Groups
Since you added several new 3D objects to your simulation model in the previous step, you
need to create object groups for those new objects in order to make your model scale well.
In this step, you'll create a location group named ExamRooms for the new exam
tables and you'll create a staff group named MDs for the MD staff members.
To create additional object groups:
Press and hold down the Shift key while using your mouse to draw a box around all
six of the new ExamTable objects you added to your model in
the previous step. A red box will appear around the ExamTables to show they are
selected.
Right-click ExamTable1 to open a menu. Point to
Location Groups, then select Add to New
Group to open a group properties window.
In the name box, delete the current text and rename the group ExamRooms.
Confirm that all six of the ExamTables are members of
the group. Close the group window.
Press and hold down the Shift key while clicking a blank area in the 3D model with
your mouse to de-select the ExamTables.
In the 3D model, press the Ctrl button and click MD1 to
select it. While still pressing the Ctrl key, click MD2 to
select it as well. Right-click MD1 to open a menu. Point to
Staff Groups, then select Add to New
Group to open a group properties window.
In the name box, delete the current text and rename the group MDs.
Confirm that MD1 and MD2
are both listed as a member and that Staff is listed as the
parent group. Close the group window.
Press and hold down the Shift key while clicking a blank area in the 3D model with
your mouse to de-select the MDs.
Consider saving your simulation model at this point.
Step 3 Add A* Dividers
In this step, you'll add some A* dividers to the model. A* navigation is a tool that
calculates the most logical path a person should use when walking from one object to
another. You can place dividers to prevent a person from walking through an area that they
shouldn't walk through (such as walking through an object or the wall of a room). The A*
Navigator will take these dividers into account when calculating the best path for a person
to travel. See
Working
With A* Navigation for more information.
When you're finished adding the dividers, the model will look similar to the following
image:
Because it can sometimes be difficult to view the barriers against the dark gray model
background in the FlexSim Healthcare environment, the following images shows the dividers in
the standard environment for reference:
To add A* dividers:
Make sure the 3D model is open and active. In the Library under the
A* Navigation group, click a
Divider object to enter Create Dividers mode. Your mouse
pointer will change to the Dividers icon
to show that you are in Create Dividers
mode.
Find the position in your simulation model where you want to place the beginning
corner of a divider. When you click that position in the model and start moving the
mouse pointer in a different direction, you'll notice that it begins creating a divider.
Reposition the mouse pointer until the divider's end is at the approximate length,
angle, and radius you want it to be relative to the start. Click the mouse again to
finish creating the divider. Press Esc to exit Create Divider mode.
These dividers will act as walls in the simulation model. Start by creating the
outer walls on the floor plan (the ones surrounding the whole building). If you need to
move or resize a divider, click the end points and drag them to a different
position.
Notice that when you added the dividers, an A*
Navigator was automatically added in the center of your simulation model. (It
looks like a blue A with a golden star next to it.) Drag the A*
Navigator to a different area, placing it somewhere outside the floor
plan.
Before adding dividers to the interior walls of the floor plan, double-click the
A* Navigator to open its properties window. On the
Visual tab, check the Show Grid
Nodes and Show Travel Threshold checkboxes. Click
the OK button to save changes and close the window.
Click a blank area in the 3D model so that nothing is selected. In Quick Properties
under View Settings, clear the Show
Grid checkbox.
Click the Reset button on the simulation control bar to
ensure that the visual changes take effect.
Click the A* Grid (the large blue bar that surrounds
the A* dividers) to select it.
In Quick Properties in the Node Spacing box, delete the
current number and type 0.50 instead. Notice that the dividers and grid
lines will become smaller.
Click the Reset button on the simulation control bar to
ensure that the visual changes are evenly applied to the model.
Add more dividers for the interior walls of the building. Don't worry about putting
the dividers exactly over the floor plan's walls. It's more important to try to put
dividers in between the yellow A* grid lines if possible. These dividers will prevent
movement from one point on the grid to another so it will work better if placed in
between the grid rather than over it.
Now that you've added dividers, you don't need the yellow gridlines any more.
Double-click the A* Navigator to open its properties
window. On the Visual tab, check the
Show Grid Nodes checkbox. Click the
OK button to save changes and close the window.
Click the Reset button on the simulation control bar to
apply these visual changes.
Now that you've added A* dividers, it's time to add the 3D objects in the model to the A*
navigation system. You'll add the objects in the next step.
Step 4 Connect 3D Objects to the A* Navigator
In this step, you'll connect most of the model's objects to the A* Navigator. By
connecting the 3D objects to the A* system, it will create a small area of space around the
objects that staff and patients will not be able to walk through. You'll also learn how to
check 3D object's travel thresholds in order to prevent any strange behavior when the 3D
objects are using the A* navigation system.
To connect the 3D objects to the A* Navigator:
Press and hold the A key to enter connection mode. When you are in connection mode,
your mouse pointer will change to a plus sign with a chain link symbol next to it:
Once you are in connection mode, click the A* Navigator.
Click WaitingArea1 to create a connection between the two
objects.
These next steps will demonstrate another method for adding members to the A*
navigation system. Double-click the A* Navigator to open
its properties window.
On the Setup tab in the
Members group, make sure that All
Members is selected as the current member view.
Click the Sampler button
to enter sampling mode.
In the 3D model, sample the Clerk1 staff member. Notice
that it now appears as a member in the members list.
Using your preferred method, add the rest of the 3D objects to the A* navigation
system (including staff objects) EXCEPT the following objects:
Entrance1
WaitingLine1
Click the VitalsChair1 to select it. Notice that you
can now see the chair's travel threshold, represented by several red dots surrounding
the chair. Depending on how your chair is placed, there might also be blue dots
surrounding those dots.
Check to ensure that the none of the red travel threshold dots go beyond the
dividers. (It is fine if the blue dots extend beyond the dividers.) For example, the
following image shows a chair's red travel threshold that extends past a divider in
standard mode:
Drag the VitalsChair1 so that it is a little further
away from the divider and none of the red travel thresholds extend beyond the divider.
Be aware that there will also not be any problems if the red travel thresholds are
exactly inside a divider.
Repeat the previous steps with all of the Exam Tables
to ensure their red travel threshold dots do not extend beyond each room's walls.
You might want to make sure the WaitingArea1 is right
up against the surrounding dividers so that patients and staff won't try to walk behind
them or try to squeeze into small gaps between the objects.
If you decide to place a divider in front of the
Registration1 object, you might want to make sure that the
desk's travel threshold extends past the divider so that the patients can reach it
without having to go around the divider.
You might also want to put barriers around the Nurse Station
B1 to keep staff from walking between the gaps. Don't forget to check its
travel threshold as well.
If you would like to turn off the visual guides for the A* Navigation system,
double-click the A* Navigator to open its properties
window. On the Visual tab, clear all the checkboxes.
Reset and run the simulation:
Now when you run the model, the patients and the RNs no longer walk through objects or
walls. Notice that the RN walks around the desks and the walls in the floor plan while
traveling to the patient vitals area with the patient.
Step 5 Add an Escort to Exam Room Phase
In this step, you'll add another activity set to the patient track. This activity set is
called Escort or Wait Area. You'll use this activity to have a nurse escort the
patient to an exam room if one is available. You'll need to make a few customizations to
this activity set so you'll add and remove a few activities in this step. These
customizations will make it so that the nurse escorts the patient back to the waiting area
rather than the patients returning to the waiting area on their own.
When you're finished, the process flow will look similar to the following image:
For now, you'll merely add and connect these activities to the process flow. You'll edit
the properties to add logic in a later step.
To add and connect these activities:
Make sure the PatientTrack process flow is open and
active.
From the Library under HC Activity Sets, add an
Escort or Wait Area activity set to the process flow.
Rename this shape container as Escort to Exam Room.
Delete the Acquire Staff activity on the left.
Delete the second block of stacked activities on the right (the one with four
activities).
Delete all the connectors inside this shape for now.
In the Library under the HC Sub Flows group, add an
Escort Patient activity and insert it after the
Acquire Wait Area activity in the stacked block on the
right.
In the Library under the HC Resources group, add a
Release Staff activity and insert it after the
Escort Patient activity in the stacked block on the
right.
Press and hold the Ctrl key. In the activity block on the right of this shape, click
the Walk to Wait Area activity and move it away from the
stacked block to another space in the process flow. Delete the Walk
to Wait Area activity.
Repeat that process to delete the Process and
Release Location activities from the stacked block on the
left.
Click the stacked block on the left to select it. (It should have two activities:
an Escort Patient and a Release
Staff activity.) Press Ctrl+C to copy the stacked block. Press Ctrl+V to paste
the stacked block.
Add the newly copied stacked block to the end of the stacked block on the
right.
Rename the activities and shared assets as follows:
Activity or Shared Asset
New Name
Wait Area
Wait Area Return
Staff
Exam RN
Location
Exam Room
Acquire Location (on the left)
Acquire Exam Room
Escort Patient (on the left)
Escort Patient to Exam Room
Release Staff (on the left)
Release Vitals RN
Acquire Wait Area
Acquire Wait Area Return
Escort Patient (first on the right)
Escort Patient to Wait Area
Release Staff (on the right)
Release Vitals RN
Acquire Location (on the right)
Acquire Exam Room
Release Wait Area
Release Wait Area Return
Acquire Staff
Acquire Exam RN
Escort Patient (second on the right)
Escort Patient to Exam Room
Release Staff
Release Exam RN
Create a connector from the Release Vitals Station
activity in the Check Vitals shape to the
Acquire Exam Room activity on the left.
Create a connector from the Acquire Exam Room on the
left to the Escort Patient to Exam Room activity on the
left.
Create a connector from the Acquire Exam Room on the
left to the Acquire Wait Area Return activity on the
right.
Click the first Acquire Exam Room activity to select
it. Confirm that connector 1 is going to the Escort Patient
to Exam Room activity and that connector 2 is going to the
Acquire Wait Area Return activity. If not, delete the
connectors and reconnect them in the appropriate order.
Check that your process flow looks similar to the image at the beginning of this
step.
Step 6 Edit the Escort to Exam Activities
In this step, you'll edit the properties for the new activities you added in the previous
step. Because this is an activity set, most of the activities are already set up to work
correctly already. However, you will need to make a few changes, especially for the new
activities you added in the previous step.
The following is an overview of how the activities or shared assets will function:
Activity or Shared Asset
Explanation
Wait Area Return
This shared asset will link to the WaitingAreas location group.
Exam RN
This shared asset will link to the RNs staff group.
Exam Room
This shared asset will link to the ExamRooms location group.
Acquire Exam Room (on the left)
This activity will attempt to acquire one of the Exam Room locations. If
patients are currently using all of the Exam Room locations, the token will move to
the Acquire Wait Area Return activity and the patient will find a chair in the
waiting room. If one of the Exam Room locations is acquired, the token will move to
the Escort Patient to Exam Room activity instead.
Acquire Wait Area Return
This activity will attempt to acquire one of the chairs in the WaitingArea1
multi-location. When the location is free, the patient token will move to the Escort
Patient to Wait Area activity.
Escort Patient to Wait Area
Once a chair in the WaitingArea1 multi-location has been acquired, this activity
will tell the previously acquired Vitals RN to escort the patient back to the
waiting area.
Release Vitals RN (on the right)
This activity will release the Vitals RN that was acquired earlier in the
process flow. Afterwards, the RN will then be free to work on other tasks or to be
acquired by other patients.
Acquire Exam Room (on the right)
This activity will be identical to the Acquire Exam Room activity on the
left except that it won't use a Max Wait Timer.
Release Wait Area Return
This activity will release the specific chair from the WaitingArea1 location so
that it is free for other patients to acquire.
Acquire Exam RN
This activity will acquire a member of the RNs group. If all members of the RNs
group are busy working on other tasks, the token will wait at this activity until an
RN is free.
Escort Patient to Exam Room (on the right)
The Exam RN will then escort the patient to an exam room.
Release Exam RN
This activity will release the Exam RN that was acquired earlier in the process
flow. Afterwards, the RN will then be free to work on other tasks or to be acquired
by other patients.
Escort Patient to Exam Room (on the left)
This activity will be nearly identical to the Escort Patient to Exam Room on the
right. However, the Vitals RN will escort the patient instead.
Release Vitals RN (on the left)
This activity will be identical to the Release Vitals RN activity on the
right.
To build this logic:
In the Escort to Exam Room container shape, click the
Wait Area Return shared asset to select it. In Quick
Properties, click the arrow next to the Location box to
open a menu. Point to Location Groups, then select
WaitingAreas.
Click the Exam RN shared asset to select it. In
Quick Properties, click the arrow next to the Staff box to
open a menu. Point to Staff Groups, then select
ExamRNs.
Click the Exam Room shared asset to select it. In
Quick Properties, click the arrow next to the Location box
to open a menu. Point to Location Groups, then select
ExamRooms.
Click the Escort Patient to Wait Area activity to
select it. In Quick Properties next to the Destination box,
click the Sampler button
to enter sampling mode.
Click the Wait Area Return shared asset to sample
it.
In Quick Properties next to the Staff box, click the
click the Sampler button
to enter sampling mode.
Click the Vitals RN shared asset in the
Check Vitals shape to sample it.
Click the Release Vitals RN activity in the right
activity block to select it. In Quick Properties next to the
Staff Resource box, click the Sampler
button to enter sampling mode.
Click the Vitals RN shared asset in the
Check Vitals shape to sample it.
Repeat the previous steps for the Release Vitals RN
activity in the activity block on the left.
Click the Escort Patient to Exam Room in the activity
block on the left to select it. In Quick Properties next to the
Staff box, click the Sampler
button to enter sampling mode.
Click the Vitals RN shared asset in the
Vitals shape to sample it.
Reset and run the model:
After finishing the check vitals process, the nurse escort the patients to an exam room.
At this stage in the model-building process, only two patients are arriving at the clinic,
so there will always be an exam room open for them. Otherwise, they would get escorted to
the waiting area. You could increase the number of patients arriving at the start of the
model if you'd like to test this functionality.
Conclusion
Up to this point, you've created a simulation model of a health care clinic in which a
patient completes the registration and check in process, then goes to an exam room. In the
next tutorial task, you'll learn how to make a custom location object. Continue on to
Tutorial Task 1.4 - Add a Custom
Location Object.