Have you ever wondered how a hospital decides the amount of medications, equipment, and supplies needed to service an entire patient population? It may seem intuitive that greater stock is ideal for preventing shortages, but overstock can actually contribute to production scarcity at the manufacturing level. In my MAT 480 talk, I will discuss a mathematical model used to streamline real world supply chain management called the Economic Order Quantity Model. Through the EOQ formula, optimal inventory levels can be calculated to assist a health system. By discussing model properties and variations, I will address the practical application of the EOQ to healthcare settings. I will especially focus on monitoring pharmaceutical inventories, ensuring medications can be supplied sustainably. To learn more about how mathematics is used in effective hospital inventory management, stay tuned for my seminar talk on Wednesday, April 8.
The Economic Order Quantity Model: An Introduction to Healthcare Analytics
by Carlie Porter | Mar 25, 2026 | Uncategorized | 4 comments
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This will be a very interesting talk. I am always excited to hear about new real world applications of mathematics and data science that I never thought about before. I know that you have expressed passion about the medical field in the past, so I know this talk will be well done. I know some people that work in supply chain management, but I never thought about it involving mathematics.
I am looking forward to this talks. This makes me think of the important applications that mathematics can have. Particularly, it is interesting to see the intersection with the medical field. It also makes me think of other things where measuring demand would be important.
This sounds very interesting! I think I dealt with supply on one of my business classes, but I don’t think we did anything super math related. I’m looking forward to seeing how this talk combines the two, along with the medical side of it.
I really enjoyed your talk and its direct application to such an important field. It is also interesting how this can really apply to many fields and situations. I wonder if this will ever become like a standard or recommended model for all pharmaceutical inventories.