KnowLogis contributes to hospital efficiency, improving the delivery of better healthcare. It was developed by Glintt, in collaboration with the Institute for Systems Engineering and Computers, Technology and Science (INESC TEC).
It is called KnowLogis - Expertise in Healthcare Logistics and is an intelligent management system to monitor and follow up, in an active and dynamic way, the indicators of the most critical activities of hospital logistics, estimating, quantifying and suggesting correction and improvement measures. It was developed to respond to the complexity of inventory management of pharmaceutical products and clinical consumables in a hospital environment and has been in use at the Vila Nova de Gaia/Espinho Hospital Centre since the end of 2020.
"The burden of hospital logistics and stock management was huge and complex. The existing solutions did not allow a dynamic approach to data analysis, as would be necessary to respond to the logistics issues identified by the hospital. With this intelligent dashboard, we foresee a reduction of the average inventory value by at least 10%, as well as a reduction in the time spent throughout the process, from detecting a need to placing an order by at least 20%, and an improvement in the operational efficiency of hospital logistics, increasing the level of service and thus providing better healthcare", says Daniela Silva Maia, member of the Board of Directors of the Vila Nova de Gaia/Espinho Hospital Centre.
In order to contribute to the development of the platform's analytical engine, INESC TEC used advanced methods of systems engineering and operational research, such as simulation, optimisation and forecasting "which help in the management, prediction of needs, monitoring and coordination of the charges for medicines, medical devices and materials, facilitating decision-making in hospital logistics", explains Mário Amorim Lopes, INESC TEC researcher responsible for the project and Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto.
The intelligent inventory report and dynamic warehouse management are some of the added values of KnowLogis, which began to be developed by Glintt and INESC TEC in June 2017, and is already in production with effective returns for the hospital. This system automatically analyses the evolution of clinical material and medicine stocks, incorporating historical data and suggesting supply policies (cycle and safety stock, replenishment cycle, among others).
“KnowLogis also offers advantages in the financial field, through budget monitoring and adjustment, as well as purchase coordination. If there is currently no automatic coordination between budget adjustments and operational decisions, with this solution it will be possible to monitor and correct deviations in the budget and simulate the financial impact of operational changes," says Ricardo Gil Santos, Head of Business Consulting Healthcare at Glintt.
Daniela Silva Maia
concludes, saying that for this project to be successful, "the creation of
this triad with well-defined objectives was very important: the hospital, which
has daily operating difficulties in identifying and triggering order and
process needs that guarantee the level of service to patients and budgetary
control; INESC TEC, an R&D entity that intends to produce science and bring
the state of the art of advanced analytics to health; and Glintt, a
technological and consulting company that bridges the gap between knowledge of
processes and circuits and their potential for reengineering".
Supported by COMPETE 2020 under the RTD Incentives System, in the co-promotion component, the KnowLogis project involved an eligible investment of 532 thousand euros and a ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) incentive of 332 thousand euros.
