The Role of Supply Chain Management in Healthcare Service Quality

Abstract

Healthcare organizations in sub-Saharan Africa are facing many supply chain management challenges that can be addressed through effective operational and management decisions. The objective of this article is to investigate supply chain management in healthcare service quality in developing countries, particularly in Ethiopia. The primary method was used to collect data from 384 managers and procurement officers from private healthcare sectors to identify the quality and dimensions of healthcare services. The results of our study show that the combination of the timely delivery of health care products, specification, the standard of healthcare product suppliers, and after-sales services in private health sectors in Ethiopia is associated with the quality of healthcare. The scope of this article is focused on the hiring of proper human resources and highly skilled professionals in the supply chain departments to improve the quality of supply chain healthcare services. As a practical contribution, this article may help healthcare supply chain managers and organizations to do their jobs better or build some competitive advantage by addressing the issues and difficulties related to individual healthcare managers, organizations, and their partners.