Cancer Hospital Stockpiles: Strategizing for an Efficient and Sufficient Inventory List of Essential Items.

PURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected health care systems worldwide, resulting in critical shortages of essential items and materials. The available guidelines are of little use for cancer hospitals in low-income and low-middle-income countries. They have been designed for community hospitals serving in a centralized health care network. This study aimed to draft and field test a framework to establish a list of essential supplies that should be stockpiled for subsequent waves of the COVID-19 virus by a tertiary care cancer hospital in a low-middle-income country. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A model was formulated using the consumption trends during the peak month of the first wave of COVID-19 infection to compile a list of essential materials and supplies. Furthermore, costing analyses were conducted to determine the financial benefits of stockpiling. RESULTS: A proposed list of items to stockpile, including personal protective equipment, radiology supplies, laboratory reagents, medication, and oxygen, was shared with the hospital administration. However, the hospital administration only accepted the proposals for stockpiling personal protective equipment and oxygen. CONCLUSION: This paper provides a framework and strategies that cancer hospitals and health care systems can modify and use as per individual, institutional requirements and specifications for stockpiling essential items during the COVID-19 or other similar pandemics.

Development of an in-house hospital information system in a hospital in Pakistan.

OBJECTIVES: To review our experience of development and implementation of an electronic hospital information system, its costs and return on investment as well as incorporation of some key quality standards. METHODS: Cost and saving trends of the project were calculated using different tools including project expense, cost saving through cessation of printing radiology films and paper. Net present value with payback period was utilized to evaluate the efficiency of the health information systems. Qualitative improvements in different healthcare functions were also analyzed. RESULTS: The total saving of the project was approximately US$ 5.1 million with net saving of US$ 3.5 million for the period from 2001 to 2011. The net present value of the project is US$ 3.2 million with a payback period of 3.4 years. CONCLUSIONS: Electronic hospital information systems and health records hold the potential to be useful tools for quality improvement and error reduction. Adoption of such systems, however, has been slow and erratic, worldwide. Utilizing the concept of net present value, development of such a system may be financially viable for some institutions. Instead of simply replacing paper, these systems may also be used to improve information management and improve quality of patient care.