Applications and Value
There is much value in the Archimedes Model:
- The Model answers questions faster and less expensively than empirical methods. The Archimedes Model can analyze a wide variety of questions for health care decision makers that would be impossible to address empirically because of the enormous cost, number of people, and time required. The Model provides a method to explore important questions at a fraction of the cost and time of empirical methods, with a high degree of realism and accuracy.
- The Model is customizable to particular settings. The Archimedes Model is fully customizable and can be tailored to represent the population of a region, a target market, or even an entire country. Clients can also provide their own data to represent processes, behaviors, and costs customized to their settings.
- The Model is broad. The Model addresses the full range of variables and outcomes that are important in making healthcare decisions:
- Populations
- Clinical physiology, biomarkers, signs and symptoms, clinical outcomes
- Prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, follow-up care
- Physician and patient behaviors, performance, and compliance
- Protocols, guidelines, practice variations
- Delivery systems, logistics and utilization
- Quality of life
- Financial costs
- The Model is flexible. The Model already includes the majority of biomarkers and interventions for the conditions currently in the Model (see The Archimedes Model). However additional biomarkers, drugs, device, diagnostic tests, guidelines, or other interventions can be added if sufficient data are available. Patient and physician behaviors, and even the degree and speed with which an intervention is implemented can be specified in the Model. Additional conditions can also be added, depending on available data.
- The Model is Practical. Once the questions have been specified and the inputs have been decided, the Archimedes Model calculates the results that matter: clinical outcomes, quality of life, utilization, and costs.