Classification of medicines and materials in hospital inventory management: a multi-criteria analysis

BACKGROUND: In the hospital environment, to achieve an optimum level of operations and service, it is necessary to develop adequate inventory management system. Stocks can be managed, amongst other ways, through inputs classification, which is generally carried out based on a single criterion, such as monetary value, demand or criticality, which does not fully address the complexity of a hospital’s inventory management system. Thus, the present study proposes a multi-criteria decision support model to help classify the stock of medicines and materials, enabling a more effective inventory management system for hospitals. METHODS: Methodologically, the study followed 3 stages: (1) preliminary phase; (2) modelling and choice phase; and (3) finalization phase. Each stage had a set of specific steps that were followed. The first stage identified the actors of the process, objectives, criteria and alternatives, establishing 5 criteria and 48 alternatives; the second stage was the choice and execution of the multi-criteria decision method to solve the problem. It was decided to use the Flexible and Interactive Tradeoff method for the sorting problematic. Finally, in the third stage, the sensitivity analysis for the developed model and the validation of the results with decision makers were carried out. In the study, 48 medicines and materials were included to validate the proposed model; however, the model could be used for more items. RESULTS: From the total of 48 medicines and hospital medical materials selected for the study, the classification of 34 of these alternatives to a single class was obtained through modelling and the other 14 alternatives were destined to two possible classes; moreover, the sensitivity analysis performed showed robust results. The items classified in class W should receive special attention by the stock manager; therefore, they should be monitored weekly. Items classified in class B should be monitored biweekly and finally, items classified in class M, should be monitored monthly. CONCLUSIONS: The classification of medicines and materials developed according to the inventory demands allowed more efficient purchasing decisions, optimizing the stock of materials and medicines at the hospital while optimizing the inventory manager’s activities, saving time. Consequently, the proposed model can support the development of other multicriteria models in different hospital scenarios.