A Virtual Hospital Pharmacy Inventory: An Approach to Support Unexpected Demand

Abstract

As the escalated health-care costs are in the focus of governments the science of logistics is considered as a tool for the provision of models that have been applied in other industries successfully. This paper is focused on the logistics activities of the hospital pharmacy and approaches a solution where these activities are optimised. The solution is based on the Just-In-Time (JIT) concept and on an information system that will replace the central hospital pharmacy with a virtual hospital pharmacy, spreading the actual stock of pharmaceuticals in the clinics of all hospitals in the same geographical area. The feasibility of the solution is demonstrated through the use of an application scenario.