The Use of Simulation Modeling in Hospital Pharmacy Inventory Management

Abstract

Hospitals currently face numerous challenges in managing their pharmacy operations efficiently. While Business Process Reengineering (BPR) has been proposed as a solution, its implementation in healthcare is more complex than in other industries. Healthcare professionals often struggle to identify problems and resist change. Simulation modeling is a technique that can visually present issues and facilitate user acceptance of changes. This paper systematically explores the application of discrete event simulation (DES) modeling in hospital pharmacy management. The specific problem of inefficient inventory control policies was analyzed and simulated using primary and secondary data from a tertiary care hospital case study in Thailand, focusing on a fast-moving drug called "Tear Natural Free (TNF)". The simulation revealed the current inefficient performance, highlighting various phenomena such as demand characteristics, inventory levels, and stock-outs in each pharmacy room. The simulation outputs were utilized to identify alternative scenarios for further analysis of the effects of changing the business process. The most suitable forecasting technique and inventory replenishment policy for this type of item were determined to be Croston's method and continuous review order-point, order-up-to-level (s, S) or min-max policy, respectively. Simulation modeling can serve as a valuable tool in identifying problems and improving business processes in hospital pharmacy management.