Material Distribution and Transportation in a Norwegian Hospital:A Case Study

Automated Guided Vehicles have shown significant importance in material transportation and distribution in today’s hospitals. The increasing trends of shorter hospital stays and increase of treatments and surgeries in clinics, present new challenges for the supply of goods. The rise in patients in hospitals, and consequently the increase of treatments and surgeries, cause a growth of material usage and goods movement. This study used the Control Model methodology to analyze the material and information flow within the case hospital. Information sharing and integration is still a major issue in the case hospital. The study aims to stimulate further research in material handling and distribution in hospitals

Immune Evasion by Yersinia enterocolitica: Differential Targeting of Dendritic Cell Subpopulations In Vivo

CD4+ T cells are essential for the control of Yersinia enterocolitica (Ye) infection in mice. Ye can inhibit dendritic cell (DC) antigen uptake and degradation, maturation and subsequently T-cell activation in vitro. Here we investigated the effects of Ye infection on splenic DCs and T-cell proliferation in an experimental mouse infection model. We found that OVA-specific CD4+ T cells had a reduced potential to proliferate when stimulated with OVA after infection with Ye compared to control mice. Additionally, proliferation of OVA-specific CD4+ T cells was markedly reduced when cultured with splenic CD8α+ DCs from Ye infected mice in the presence of OVA. In contrast, T-cell proliferation was not impaired in cultures with CD4+ or CD4−CD8α− DCs isolated from Ye infected mice. However, OVA uptake and degradation as well as cytokine production were impaired in CD8α+ DCs, but not in CD4+ and CD4−CD8α− DCs after Ye infection. Pathogenicity factors (Yops) from Ye were most frequently injected into CD8α+ DCs, resulting in less MHC class II and CD86 expression than on non-injected CD8α+ DCs. Three days post infection with Ye the number of splenic CD8α+ and CD4+ DCs was reduced by 50% and 90%, respectively. The decreased number of DC subsets, which was dependent on TLR4 and TRIF signaling, was the result of a faster proliferation and suppressed de novo DC generation. Together, we show that Ye infection negatively regulates the stimulatory capacity of some but not all splenic DC subpopulations in vivo. This leads to differential antigen uptake and degradation, cytokine production, cell loss, and cell death rates in various DC subpopulations. The data suggest that these effects might be caused directly by injection of Yops into DCs and indirectly by affecting the homeostasis of CD4+ and CD8α+ DCs. These events may contribute to reduced T-cell proliferation and immune evasion of Ye

Medical Supplies to the Point-Of-Use in Hospitals

Part 3: Production Management Theory and MethodologyInternational audienceIn order to match financial sustainability with the delivery of high-quality healthcare hospitals need to seek efficient ways of managing inventories with a large variety of medical supplies. To find a balance in the trade-off between cost and service levels that ensures on time and high-quality patient treatment is a challenge. It is especially crucial in the hospital setting, where the consequence of a stock-out can be much more severe than lost revenue. The process of ensuring that the required supplies are available at the right time is a particularly important supporting role within hospital logistics. The scope of this study is inventory control at the point-of-use inventories in hospitals. It concerns the short-term planning and control area, which focus on coping with actual demand and making necessary changes in order to match efficiently to plans. This study aims to model the inventory control process and discuss how technology can support high availability of medical supplies in hospitals

Material Distribution and Transportation in a Norwegian Hospital: A Case Study

Automated Guided Vehicles have shown significant importance in material transportation and distribution in today’s hospitals. The increasing trends of shorter hospital stays and increase of treatments and surgeries in clinics, present new challenges for the supply of goods. The rise in patients in hospitals, and consequently the increase of treatments and surgeries, cause a growth of material usage and goods movement. This study used the Control Model methodology to analyze the material and information flow within the case hospital. Information sharing and integration is still a major issue in the case hospital. The study aims to stimulate further research in material handling and distribution in hospitals

Medical Supplies to the Point-Of-Use in Hospitals

In order to match financial sustainability with the delivery of high-quality healthcare hospitals need to seek efficient ways of managing inventories with a large variety of medical supplies. To find a balance in the trade-off between cost and service levels that ensures on time and high-quality patient treatment is a challenge. It is especially crucial in the hospital setting, where the consequence of a stock-out can be much more severe than lost revenue. The process of ensuring that the required supplies are available at the right time is a particularly important supporting role within hospital logistics. The scope of this study is inventory control at the point-of-use inventories in hospitals. It concerns the short-term planning and control area, which focus on coping with actual demand and making necessary changes in order to match efficiently to plans. This study aims to model the inventory control process and discuss how technology can support high availability of medical supplies in hospitals