Grouping of items for the design of surgical kits using mathematical programming techniques

• Grant number: 19/13899-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: February 01, 2020
• End date: December 31, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Production Engineering - Operational Research
• Principal Investigator: Maristela Oliveira dos Santos
• Grantee: Letícia Lemos Burla Dias
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Matemáticas e de Computação (ICMC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/07375-0 - CeMEAI - Center for Mathematical Sciences Applied to Industry, AP.CEPID

Abstract

In this work, we study ways of organizing the items used to perform various surgeries in hospitals. The items are, for example, gloves, medicines, surgical threads, etc. These items are organized into surgical kits that must be assembled and finalized by the responsible department before each surgical procedure. After performing the procedures, unused items must be returned to the inventory for future use. However, determining ways to improve the efficiency of assembling kits and returning items to stock is a problem faced by hospitals. Therefore, in this project, we apply mathematical programming techniques to determine kits composed of sub-kits, which are used in various types of surgeries. Thus, when using these new kits, it is expected to increase the control of the inventory and also to reduce the time of assembly of these, thereby minimizing the operational costs of the hospitals as well as wastage. For the development of the project, an integer optimization model of the literature will be adapted to study the problem of organizing kits considering data provided by the Santa Casa of the City of São Carlos.