Reliability of internal logistics distribution in a hospital

The main objective of the research is to propose a method to assess the reliability of hospitals' internal logistics distribution.

A structured methodology was defined in five stages: (1) data collection and current state mapping; (2) future state design; (3) identification of the uncertainties and sources of variation; (4) reliability analysis of the proposed future state and (5) identification and prioritization of improvements.

Results show shortcomings of the future state design and propose solutions to obtain a state that is more realistic and possible to perform. Subsequently, the feasibility of these improvements was analysed in order to be implemented in a real context, searching and identifying different uncertainty sources occurring inside the system.

Studies that have addressed hospital's internal logistics are scarce. Such gap highlights the need for this research developments that address the reliability enhancement in hospitals internal logistics.