An application of economic model predictive control to inventory management in hospitals

Abstract

In this paper, we present experimental results from the application of model predictive control (MPC) to inventory management in a real hospital. In particular, the stock levels of ten different drugs that belong to the same laboratory have been controlled by using an MPC policy. The results obtained after four months show that the adopted approach outperforms the method employed by the hospital and reduces both the average stock levels and the work burden of the pharmacy department. This paper also paper presents some practical insights regarding the application of advanced control methods in this context.