A Data-Based Model Predictive Decision Support System for Inventory Management in Hospitals

This paper presents experimental results from the application of a data-based model predictive decision support system to drug inventory management in the pharmacy of a mid-size hospital in Spain. The underlying objective is to improve the efficiency of their inventory policy by exploiting pharmacy historical data. To this end, the pharmacy staff was aided by a decision support system that provided them with quantities needed for the satisfaction of clinical needs and the risk of stockout in case no order is placed for different time horizons. With this information in mind, the pharmacy service takes the final order decisions. The results obtained during a test period of four months are provided and compared with those of a previous model predictive control approach, which was implemented in the same hospital in the past, and with the usual policy of the pharmacy department.