New tech adoption & overloaded hospital

Xiao Yang

Hospital capacity (system dynamics): Patients are referred onto a waiting list and treated by staff. When the waiting list grows, pressure on staff rises and more staff leave. That reduces treatment capacity, and the list grows further: a reinforcing loop that can lead to collapse. Hospitals hire toward a target staffing level based on demand, which acts as a balancing loop.

Technology adoption (agent-based): 200 hospitals each decide individually whether to adopt the new technology, following the Bass diffusion model. Each hospital can adopt because of outside influence (innovation), such as vendors, mandates or funding. It can also adopt because of peer influence (imitation), which grows as more hospitals adopt. As adoption spreads, staff productivity rises by up to 15%, which lowers the number of staff needed.