Pulling Drugs along the Supply Chain: Centralization of Hospitals' Inventory

Abstract

Due to the economic crisis and the predominance of drug expenditure in healthcare costs, the cooperation of groups of hospitals to negotiate with suppliers and centralize warehouses has been a recent trend in the pharmaceutical supply chain. This paper shows the economic convenience of centralizing the hospitals' inventory decisions (how much/when to order) based on the sharing of medical prescriptions of patients along the supply chain. The logistic network under investigation (TO BE model) integrates: a central pharmacy negotiating with suppliers, collecting hospital orders, storing and distributing materials; a number of hospitals feeding their medical units with materials; and a number of medical units taking care of their patients. The study is carried out comparing the cost performances of the proposed model with a non-cooperative one(in which hospitals manage their stocks individually) by means of simulation.

Performance indicator selection for operating room supply chains: An application of ANP

“…Carrus et al [47], Pinna et al [62] and Robinson et al [70] also show the importance of balanced workload distribution and process standardization in their work. Furthermore, the impact of centralization on costs, service level and the workflow is also considered important, which is confirmed by Pinna et al [62], Iannone et al [71] and Landry et al [6].…”

Daily nurse requirements planning based on simulation of patient flows

“…Moreover, many studies have employed clinical data to provide better management of hospitals' resources and materials [for example in the field of drug management; see Iannone et al (2011Iannone et al ( , 2014, Guida et al (2012), Iannone et al (2013Iannone et al ( , 2015]. …”

Numerical Solution of the Inventory Balance Delay Differential Equation

“…If delays in supplies are long, this might result in a significant increase in inventory, which is unwelcome [6]. Therefore, it is advisable to include equation (4) in the model, which adds constraints allowing for the suspension of any replenishment if its level exceeds the required value [12,[18][19].…”

“…The problem was examined using various possibilities provided, e.g., by probability theory [12][13], management theory [17][18][19], differential equations with delay [20], linear analysis of stability [21], the stochastic method of inventory management [22][23] and chaos theory [24]. Among other studies, Kim and Springer [25] can be mentioned, exploring two volatilities using systemic dynamics of a model which derives conditions of oscillation.…”

“…Countless studies have been carried out over the years and there is an extensive literature related to this issue [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. The problem was examined using various possibilities provided, e.g., by probability theory [12][13], management theory [17][18][19], differential equations with delay [20], linear analysis of stability [21], the stochastic method of inventory management [22][23] and chaos theory [24].…”