How do we demonstrate the value of what we do in healthcare simulation? 

This question prompted Lisa Barker and a stellar author team to develop a new model for thinking about value in simulation. They present that model - and the thinking behind it - in Value-based simulation in healthcare: a new model for metrics reporting, recently published in Advances in Simulation. They authors describe their article as “.. designed to support simulation teams and organizational leaders in selecting relevant measurement strategies, aligning simulation work with institutional goals, and co-creating metrics that are operationally meaningful.” 

In this Simulcast/ Advances episode, Vic speaks with Lisa Barker and two of her co-authors; Ben Symon and Katie Walker. Our conversation started with a look back at the challenge of measuring and demonstrating value from simulation activities, and a timeline summary of how this issue has been approached over the last 25 years.  We then parse the value-based simulation in healthcare (VBSH) model, comprising six distinct but interdependent categories: Service Products, Program Perceptions, Acquired Expertise, Workplace Performance, System Benefit, and Value Analyses. Lisa, Ben and Katie leave us with some final thoughts as to how this might be applied in practice and offer some speculation about future work on value in healthcare simulation. 

Some of the many references to background literature in our conversation included: 

Barsuk JH, McGaghie WC, Cohen ER, Balachandran JS, Wayne DB. Use of simulation-based mastery learning to improve the quality of central venous catheter placement in a medical intensive care unit. J Hosp Med. 2009 Sep;4(7):397-403. 

Nestel D, Brazil V, Hay M. You can't put a value on that… Or can you? Economic evaluation in simulation-based medical education. Med Educ. 2018 Feb;52(2):139-141. 

Varpio L, Sherbino J. Demonstrating causality, bestowing honours, and contributing to the arms race: threats to the sustainability of HPE research. Med Educ. 2023;58(1):1–7 

Barker L. et al, Simulation-Debriefing Enhanced Needs Assessment to Address Quality Markers in Health Care: An Innovation for Prospective Hazard Analysis, The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, Volume 51, Issue 2, 2025, 

Happy listening