  Nowadays, the increase in patient demand and the decline in resources are
lengthening patient waiting times in many chemotherapy oncology departments.
Therefore, enhancing healthcare services is necessary to reduce patient
complaints. Reducing the patient waiting times in the oncology departments
represents one of the main goals of healthcare manager. Simulation models are
considered an effective tool for identifying potential ways to improve patient
flow in oncology departments. This paper presents a new agent-based simulation
model designed to be configurable and adaptable to the needs of oncology
departments which have to interact with an external pharmacy. When external
pharmacies are utilized, a courier service is needed to deliver the individual
therapies from the pharmacy to the oncology department. An oncology department
located in southern Italy was studied through the simulation model and
different scenarios were compared with the aim of selecting the department
configuration capable of reducing the patient waiting times.
