THE intensivist doctor Laida Esparza Artanga proposed in his doctoral thesis, defended at the Public University of Navarra (UPNA)an interactive digital model which simulates the operation of a Intensive Care Unit (ICU)For analyze decision-making regarding patient admissions and discharges and thus improve resource management and the quality of service provided to patients.
The thesis, developed during the COVID-19 pandemic and this highlighted the importance of optimize the use of ICUs During periods of high attendance, it is led by professors from the Department of Statistics, Computer Science and Mathematics of UPNA, as well as by members of the ISC research institute of this institution Cristina Azcárate Camio and Fermín Mallor Giménez.
THE new doctor at UPNA Since 2011, he has been collaborating with the aforementioned department of the university because, as he explains, “the interdisciplinary approach to this problem is the only possible one for obtain effective and relevant solutions“. Thus, in collaboration, research projects were carried out on operations management, logistics and decision-making analysis in the field of health.
“This makes it possible to bring together two different points of view on different issues and thus to consider and enrich both the clinical and technical aspects to provide the necessary bases for improve the quality and efficiency of health services“, he emphasizes.
As part of this collaboration, during the SARS-CoV2 virus pandemic, cooperative work was carried out with the Foral Community of Navarra, the Community of La Rioja and, finally, with the Ministry of Health to provide forecasts on the evolution of the virus. need for hospitalization and intensive care beds during the pandemic for each of the 17 Autonomous Communities, thanks to the development of the COVIDSIM simulation software.
Finally, through the development and application of techniques and methods of data analysis and computer simulation, the previously mentioned interactive digital model was developed, capable of reproducing, in a virtual environment, how an ICU actually works and analyze, in a simulation environment, the decisions that doctors make when managing patient admissions and discharges, particularly in situations of high occupancy of intensive care beds.
Brief CV of Laida Esparza Artanga
Laïda Esparza Artanga She graduated in medicine from the University of Navarre, with a specialty in intensive care medicine from the Hospital de Navarre (now University Hospital of Navarre). He continued his professional development as a specialist in intensive care medicine in various health centers, both private and public, and worked from 2019 to present in the Intensive Medicine Department of the University Hospital of Navarre.
In his role as a teacher, he was associate professor at the University of Navarra from 2002 to the present day and has belonged, since 2014, to the Educational Committee for Simulation Training in Seriously Ill Patients. He has participated as a teacher in numerous courses on subjects related to medicine, and in particular intensive medicine, and since 2019, he has given various seminars at UPNA.
Since 2011, she has collaborated with the Department of Statistics, Computer Science and Mathematics at UPNA with the aim of improving resource management and decision-making in health, and more particularly in Intensive Care Units (ICU). More specifically, Laida Esparza belongs to the DECYL research group (Data, Statistics, Quality and Logistics) and the q-UPHS center (Quantitative Methods to Improve the Performance of Health Services, www.unavarra.es/quphs), for the improved health. services using quantitative techniques.
Compared to his research activitywe can highlight his participation in 6 books, 18 publications in indexed scientific journals (including 10 related to the thesis), 39 presentations and communications in international conferences (19 related to the thesis) and 110 in national conferences (30 related thesis).
