Measuring the logistics performance of internal hospital supply chains – A literature study

Abstract

The patient care processes in hospitals are supported by a range of operational activities including inventory management and distribution of supplies to point-of-care locations. Hospitals carry large amounts and a great variety of items, and the issues of storing and distributing these items throughout the hospital supply chain are of great importance to providing high-quality patient service. Healthcare logistics encompasses the process of handling physical goods (e.g. pharmaceuticals, surgical medical products, medical equipment, sterile items, linen, food, etc.) and the associated information flows, from the reception of the goods within a hospital to their delivery at patient care locations. The medical supply costs constitute the second largest expenditure in hospitals, after personnel costs. A high-performing supply chain may realize improved outcomes (e.g. safe and quality patient service) and greater efficiency. Logistics managers need to identify opportunities to improve the logistics processes in order to lower costs and to improve patient care quality. However, in order to improve the logistics processes, you must understand how the healthcare supply chain is currently performing. Measuring the performance of the supply chain is fundamental to identify and address deficiencies in the logistics activities, and it serves as a good input for managerial decision-making. The purpose of this article is to present existing research on performance measurement at the internal hospital supply chain (e.g. inventory management, distribution activities), and more specifically in the operating theatre since it is among the most critical resources for a hospital. At the operating theatre, the requested items should be available at the right time at the right place, in the right condition, at the lowest cost possible. Furthermore, we will also discuss literature on multi-criteria decision-making techniques. It enables researchers to build a performance measurement framework and to prioritize between multiple performance indicators since a diverse group of stakeholders with conflicting interests is involved in the internal operating room supply chain.