Linking EHR and ERP Adoption with Flexibility in Care-Delivery and Operational Performance: A Conceptual Review in Hospital Supply Chain

Abstract

Healthcare-sector has gained prominence over decades and managing healthcare-records, healthcare-verticals and hospital-supplier linkages have emerged as focal-points of discussion. Electronic-health-records(EHR) and Enterprise-resource-planning(ERP) platforms are being adopted by hospitals frequently for reducing paper-based approach and better hospital-supplier sync; aiming at extending flexible and responsive patient-care-delivery; thereby boosting operational-performance. EHR and ERP adoption literatures have been evolving ever since. Well-grounded in literature and drawing logical support from two theories (Cyberneticcontrol-theory and Resource-based-view), this study puts forward rationally linked antecedent-consequence relationships, aimed at eliciting a nuanced view of how EHR and ERP adoption in the hospitals, adds to patient-care-flexibility. Contribution of this study lies in proposing the conceptual framework with overarching goal of achieving better operational-performance by technology-adoption(EHR and ERP), through facilitating care-delivery-flexibility as gains of EHR and ERP-implementation in hospital-network.