Specification and analysis of human-intensive system resource-utilization policies

Abstract

Complex, human-intensive systems, such as those used in hospital Emergency Departments, typically require the effective support of many types of resources, each governed by potentially complex utilization policies. Resource utilization policies range from simple, e.g., sickest patient first, to extremely complex, responding to changes in system environment, state, and stimuli. Further, policies may at times conflict with each other, requiring conflict resolution strategies that further increase the complexity. Sound policies for the management of these resources are crucial in assuring that these systems achieve their key goals. To help system developers make sound resource management decisions, this paper presents a resource utilization policy specification and analysis framework for complex human-intensive systems. We provide (1) a precise specification language to describe very diverse and potentially complex resource utilization policies, (2) a process- and resource-aware discrete-event simulation engine that executes simulations to dynamically evaluate the policies' effects on the outcomes achieved by systems that use the resources, and (3) a process- and resource-aware finite state verification framework that supports formal verification that resource management policies are correctly implemented by these simulations.