ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The primary goals of apheresis platelet (AP) inventory management are to meet demand and minimize waste. AP inventory management is complicated by unpredictable demand for a product with a shelf life of only a few days and by hospital requests for APs that match the ABO types of patients identically. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: A simulation-based decision support system was developed to assist blood centers in reducing waste while meeting the demand for ABO-identical APs. The proposed model is validated using data from a blood center located in a major city in the southeast region of the United States. RESULTS: Based on data provided by the blood center, the proposed simulation model is able to suggest appropriate collection strategies that can reduce AP waste from 12%-14% to 6%-7% and decrease the unmet demand for ABO-identical APs from 25% to 21%. CONCLUSION: The proposed simulation-based decision-making model is able to mimic the complexity of the AP inventory management system while reducing waste and predicting the need for ABO-identical APs.
Subject(s)
Blood Banks/organization & administration , Blood Component Removal/statistics & numerical data , Computer Simulation , Health Services Needs and Demand , Inventories, Hospital/organization & administration , Platelet Transfusion/statistics & numerical data , Efficiency, Organizational , Humans , Inventories, Hospital/standards , Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care/methods , Plateletpheresis/statistics & numerical data , Reproducibility of Results , SoftwareABSTRACT
The main purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how a computer model can be used as a decision making tool regarding vaccination programs. These programs include vaccination against traditional influenza, avian influenza, H1N1 (swine flu), or other diseases. Specifically, the proposed simulation model is used to investigate the impact of herd immunity, to estimate the vaccination rate for which a given disease is placed into an endemic state, and to calculate the overall cost of a vaccination program from a societal perspective. In addition, the tool can help to define an optimal vaccination rate which will result in the minimum overall cost for a vaccination program. The paper demonstrates several advantages of simulation over other decision making methods. Simulation is used to "mimic" the behavior of the disease, test a range of alternative solutions for different scenarios, and to finely adjust the model and reflect possible vaccination scenarios.
Subject(s)
Computer Simulation , Decision Making, Computer-Assisted , Immunity, Herd , Immunization Programs/organization & administration , Immunization Programs/statistics & numerical data , Costs and Cost Analysis , Humans , Immunization Programs/economics , Time FactorsABSTRACT
For any preparedness plan to be effective it must be put to test or verified. Simulation methodology shows high potential for studying disaster and mass vaccination preparedness. Unlike physical drills, simulation models are less expensive, take less time to be conducted, and are well suited for testing alternative solutions. The decision makers can modify and analyze the model in order to test and evaluate numerous scenarios and operating parameters. In this paper, we offer a systematic approach that can be used with simulation analysis by practitioners to develop operating decisions for emergency preparedness in general and mass vaccination clinics in particular. An actual mass vaccination center in a county health department of a southern state is used to illustrate the proposed methodology.
