The thematic research area NTNU Health has initiated a commitment to develop and improve knowledge and competence within the patient flow in Norwegian health care. The research will be conducted in close cooperation with hospitals and health care systems, and the department of Production Management at the faculty of Engineering. Sykehusbygg is also invited as research partner. The fundamental idea is to use the expertise in logistics and production management to analyse, model and improve patient, material and information flow.

The research in healthcare logistics is divided into two projects. The first research project is focusing on patient logistic in a regional setting where clusters of hospitals in collaboration and totality should ensure efficient patient treatment. The findings will be used to propose an efficient structure for the main hospitals, the regional hospitals and sub-acute care networks. The second research project is focusing on patient, material and information logistic within a hospital. A descriptive study will be performed to investigate barriers preventing efficient patient, material and information flow.