Medical Supplies to the Point-Of-Use in Hospitals

Abstract

In order to match financial sustainability with the delivery of high-quality healthcare hospitals need to seek efficient ways of managing inventories with a large variety of medical supplies. To find a balance in the trade-off between cost and service levels that ensures on time and high-quality patient treatment is a challenge. It is especially crucial in the hospital setting, where the consequence of a stock-out can be much more severe than lost revenue. The process of ensuring that the required supplies are available at the right time is a particularly important supporting role within hospital logistics. The scope of this study is inventory control at the point-of-use inventories in hospitals. It concerns the short-term planning and control area, which focus on coping with actual demand and making necessary changes in order to match efficiently to plans. This study aims to model the inventory control process and discuss how technology can support high availability of medical supplies in hospitals.