Publications by authors named "Douglas G Down"
Platelet products are both expensive and have very short shelf lives. As usage rates for platelets are highly variable, the effective management of platelet demand and supply is very important yet challenging. The primary goal of this paper is to present an efficient forecasting model for platelet demand at Canadian Blood Services (CBS).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Managing Canada's immunoglobulin (Ig) product resource allocation is challenging due to increasing demand, high expenditure, and global shortages. Detection of groups with high utilization rates can help with resource planning for Ig products. This study aims to uncover utilization subgroups among the Ig recipients using electronic health records (EHRs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The study addresses the challenge of fairly distributing limited blood products, particularly COVID-19 convalescent plasma, in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) setting, highlighting a need for better resource allocation strategies.
- A custom computerized system was created to manage and monitor the inventory and distribution of convalescent plasma across various hospitals in Canada, allowing real-time tracking and demand forecasting.
- Results showed that the system effectively distributed 394.5 doses of plasma, with most being transfused, and indicated that the allocation was equitable across participating sites, demonstrating the potential of technology to enhance decision-making in healthcare.
Background: The demand and supply of blood are highly variable over time. Blood inventory management that relies heavily on experience-based decisions may not be adaptive to real demand, leading to high operational costs, wastage, and shortages.
Methods: We combined statistical modeling, machine learning, and optimization methods to develop a data-driven demand forecasting and inventory management strategy for red blood cells (RBCs).