Jésica de Armas, Marcelus Fabri and Helena Ramalhinho, members of the Business Analytics Research Group of the UPF Department of Economics and Business have been awarded the Griffiths Medal 2025, granted by the Operational Research Society (ORS). The non-profit organization has distinguished their scientific article “Impact of quality of service in the direct cost of integrated homecare services”, published in the journal Health Systems in February 2024. The work studies the impact of service quality in integrated home health and social care programmes and its relationship with costs.

The Griffiths Medal, a biannual distinction awarded for most outstanding contribution in the field of the philosophy, theory or practice of health systems published in the journal Health Systems during the previous two years, was presented at the 2025 edition of the annual ORS award ceremony (although UPF researchers were not able to attend in person) held in London on 2 December 2025, on the occasion of the Annual Blackett Lecture.

Helena Ramalhinho: “The results of our study contribute to the development of new strategies and approaches for more efficient and effective management of health and social care without affecting the quality of the service”

According to Helena Ramalhinho, “the results of our study contribute to the development of new strategies and approaches for more efficient and effective management of health and social care without affecting the quality of the service”. The director of the Business Analytics Research Group adds that this is an important issue in the current context: “The award not only recognizes the high quality of the research carried out, but also the significant impact on society to improve home health and social care programmes”.

The award jury stated that the study by de Armas, Fabri and Ramalhinho “makes a significant contribution to the strategic planning of social care services, an issue of great importance given the growing pressure on the sector”. The authors investigate how different aspects of service quality influence the costs of integrated home health and social care services. As populations are ageing and the demand for care is growing, delivering high-quality services efficiently is a key challenge.

The authors develop a new mathematical model (mixed integer linear programming) that helps optimize the scheduling of caregivers’ tasks. The jury stresses that “their analysis reveals that minor adjustments in scheduling can lead to significant cost savings, while improving or maintaining the quality of care. The jury also highlights that “the model provides service managers with practical information on how cost and quality interact, which helps them make decisions”.

Helena Ramalhinho, a PhD in Operational Research from Cornell University (New York, USA) is a full professor with the UPF Department of Economics and Business, also linked to the Barcelona School of Economics (BSE), and currently holds the position of vice-rector for Internationalization at the University; Jésica de Armas, a PhD in Computational Science from the University of La Laguna, is a Ramón y Cajal researcher in the UPF Department of Economics and Business, also linked to the BSE; Marcelus Fabri  is an adjunct lecturer at the UPF Department of Economics and Business and an industrial engineer specializing in mathematical optimization, currently linked to Vueling Airlines. All three belong to the Business Analytics Research Group (BARG), which carries out operational research with a multidisciplinary approach for the good of society.