No prerequisites are required for this course.
● Introduce the main logistics concepts (i.e. warehousing, handling, forecasting...).
● Provide methodological approaches and tools to tackle logistics problems in the healthcare sector.
1. The logistics area in healthcare
a. Overview of logistics in general
b. The supply chain concept. The healthcare supply chain.
c. What are the peculiarities of logistics in the healthcare sector?
d. Approaches and tools for the logistics management in the healthcare sector
2. Forecasting demand for healthcare services
a. Overview of demand forecasting
b. The role of forecasting in healthcare
c. Forecasting methods, approaches and tools
3. Inventory management
a. Overview of the inventory management characteristics and strategies
b. The role of the inventory management in the healthcare sector
c. The single period (Newsvendor) problem in healthcare management
4. Humanitarian and Disaster relief operations and supply chain
a. Overview of Humanitarian logistics
b. Analysis of the main healthcare logistics issues in the humanitarian and disaster relief operations context
c. Approaches and tools
5. The location of healthcare facilities
a. Location factors in healthcare
b. How to locate hospitals? Models and criteria (covering problems)
c. How to locate ambulances in a network? Model and criteria (dynamic covering problems)
6. The Vehicle Routing Problems (VRP)
a. Overview of Vehicle Routing Problems
b. The role of the VRP in healthcare contexts
c. How to solve a VRP in healthcare contexts: approaches and tools
Teaching will be carried out through traditional lectures in which the theory and main theoretical concepts underlying the various modules will be presented, classroom exercises in which case studies will be tackled through the application of the models seen during the lectures, and group work in which students will independently analyse and solve realistic problems with the tools provided in the lectures and exercises.
Oral examination.