Modelling and Analysis of Hospital Inventory Policies during COVID-19 Pandemic

The global coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) started in 2020 and is still ongoing today. Among the numerous insights the community has learned from the COVID-19 pandemic is the value of robust healthcare inventory management. The main cause of many casualties around the world is the lack of medical resources for those who need them. To inhibit the spread of COVID-19, it is therefore imperative to simulate the demand for desirable medical goods at the proper time. The estimation of the incidence of infections using the right epidemiological criteria has a significant impact on the number of medical supplies required. Modeling susceptibility, exposure, infection, hospitalization, isolation, and recovery in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic is indeed crucial for the management of healthcare inventories. The goal of this research is to examine the various inventory policies such as reorder point, periodic order, and just-in-time in order to minimize the inventory management cost for medical commodities. To accomplish this, a SEIHIsRS model has been employed to comprehend the dynamics of COVID-19 and determine the hospitalized percentage of infected people. Based on this information, various situations are developed, considering the lockdown, social awareness, etc., and an appropriate inventory policy is recommended to reduce inventory management costs. It is observed that the just-in-time inventory policy is found to be the most cost-effective when there is no lockdown or only a partial lockdown. When there is a complete lockdown, the periodic order policy is the best inventory policy. The periodic order and reorder policies are cost-effective strategies to apply when social awareness is high. It has also been noticed that periodic order and reorder policies are the best inventory strategies for uncertain vaccination efficacy. This effort will assist in developing the best healthcare inventory management strategies to ensure that the right healthcare requirements are available at a minimal cost.

Automated summary

The global COVID-19 pandemic, which began in 2020, has highlighted the importance of robust healthcare inventory management. The lack of medical resources has led to many casualties worldwide, emphasizing the need to accurately simulate the demand for medical goods and estimate the incidence of infections. Modeling various aspects of the pandemic, such as susceptibility, exposure, hospitalization, etc., is crucial for effective healthcare inventory management. This research examines different inventory policies and recommends the most cost-effective strategies based on the dynamics of the virus and the percentage of hospitalized individuals. The findings indicate that the just-in-time policy is ideal in the absence or partial lockdown, while the periodic order policy is best during a complete lockdown. The periodic order and reorder policies are also effective when social awareness is high or vaccination efficacy is uncertain. This effort aims to develop optimal healthcare inventory management strategies to ensure the availability of necessary healthcare resources at minimal cost.