Healthcare Supply Chain Management Research Articles

Mapping research on healthcare operations and supply chain management: a topic modelling-based literature review.

The literature on healthcare operations and supply chain management has seen unprecedented growth over the past two decades. This paper seeks to advance the body of knowledge on this topic by utilising a topic modelling-based literature review to identify the core topics, examine their dynamic changes, and identify opportunities for further research in the area. Based on an analysis of 571 articles published until 25 January 2022, we identify numerous popular topics of research in the area, including patient waiting time, COVID-19 pandemic, Industry 4.0 technologies, sustainability, risk and resilience, climate change, circular economy, humanitarian logistics, behavioural operations, service-ecosystem, and knowledge management. We reviewed current literature around each topic and offered insights into what aspects of each topic have been studied and what are the recent developments and opportunities for more impactful future research. Doing so, this review help advance the contemporary scholarship on healthcare operations and supply chain management and offers resonant insights for researchers, research students, journal editors, and policymakers in the field.

Digitally enabled supply chain as a strategic asset for the COVID-19 response in Alberta.

This provincial case study, one of seven conducted as part of a national research program on healthcare supply chain management during COVID-19, focuses on Alberta. With a history of emergency preparedness, Alberta’s unique context, one that includes having an already established, centralized, and digital healthcare supply chain strategy, sets this case apart from the others in terms of pandemic responses. A key challenge navigated by Alberta was the inadequacies of traditional sourcing and procurement approaches to meet surges in product demand, which was overcome by the implementation of unique procurement strategies. Opportunities for Alberta included the integration of supply chain teams into senior leadership structures, which enabled access to data to inform public health decision-making. This case demonstrated how Alberta’s healthcare supply chain assets—its supply chain infrastructure, data, and leadership expertise, especially—contributed to resilient supply chain capacity across the province.

Supply chain capacity to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario: Challenges faced by a health system in transition.

This provincial case study, one of seven conducted as part of a national research program on healthcare supply chain management during COVID-19, focuses on Ontario. The context of significant restructuring of health organizations and regions in Ontario challenged the province’s capacity to respond to COVID-19. A complex leadership structure, led by political leaders, with limited healthcare supply chain expertise at decision-making tables and a prioritization of “hospitals first” early in the first wave were described as challenges Ontario faced in managing the pandemic. A lack of supply chain digital infrastructure—and consequently, lack of available data—meant informed decision-making regarding supply utilization and demand forecasting was not possible. The Ontario case presents key lessons learned regarding the unintended consequences of lack of supply chain coordination across organizations, and the prioritization of hospitals and allocation strategies on Canada’s most vulnerable population segments.

Supply chain integration as a strategy to strengthen pandemic responsiveness in Nova Scotia.

This provincial case study, one of seven conducted as part of a national research program on healthcare supply chain management during COVID-19, focuses on Nova Scotia. During the first wave of the pandemic, Nova Scotia faced the massive destabilization of its traditional supply channels and had to grapple with role clarity and communication in its emergency response structure. Nova Scotia was able to centralize its pandemic sourcing, procurement, and management efforts to its provincial health authority. Healthcare supply chain teams were able to rapidly modify their sourcing and procurement processes in order to compensate for the destabilization of their standard supply channels and assume responsibility for the province-wide management and distribution of pandemic supplies. The Nova Scotia case findings make clear both the value of a centralized and dedicated healthcare supply chain response—that integrates all provincial care delivery organizations—and the diversification of the healthcare supply chain.

Supply chain capacity to respond to COVID-19 in Newfoundland and Labrador: An integrated leadership strategy.

This provincial case study, one of seven conducted as part of a national research program on healthcare supply chain management during COVID-19, focuses on Newfoundland and Labrador (NL). Faced with the destabilization of its traditional supply chain, NL leveraged an existing centralized healthcare supply chain structure to organize its supply chain response to the pandemic. To overcome product shortages, health leaders collaborated with their local business community and industries to source and procure personal protective equipment and create domestic manufacturing capacity for critical supplies. The healthcare supply chain response in NL demonstrates the value of a highly integrated and centralized healthcare supply chain management strategy. It also makes clear the value of a diversified healthcare supply chain, one which draws on local manufacturing capacity to create a domestic source of critical supplies and overcome shortages from global suppliers.

Supplier selection in healthcare supply chain management during the COVID-19 pandemic: a novel fuzzy rough decision-making approach.

Due to the high necessity of medical face masks and face shields during the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare centers dealing with infected patients have faced serious challenges due to the high consumption rate face masks and face shields. In this regard, the supply chain of healthcare centers should put all of their efforts into avoiding any shortages of masks and shields as these products are considered as primary ways to prevent the spread of the virus. Since, any shortages in these products would lead to irrecoverable and costly consequences in terms of the mortality rate of patients and medical staff. Therefore, healthcare centers should decide on best supplier to supply required products, considering technical, and sustainability measures. Dynamicity and uncertainty of the pandemic are other factors that add up to the complexity of the supplier selection problem. Therefore, this paper develops a novel decision-making approach using Measuring attractiveness through a categorical-based evaluation technique (MACBETH) and a new combinative distance-based assessment method to address the supplier selection problem during the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to high uncertainty, vague and incomplete information for decision-making problems during the COVID-19 pandemic, the developed decision-making approach is implemented under fuzzy rough numbers as a superior uncertainty set of the traditional fuzzy set and rough numbers. Extensive sensitivity analysis tests are performed based on parameters of the decision-making approach, impacts of weight coefficients, and consistency of results in comparison to other MCDM methods. A real-life case study is investigated for a hospital in Istanbul, Turkey to show the applicability of the developed approach. Based on the results of MACBETH method, job creation and occupational health and safety systems are two top criteria. Results of the case study for five suppliers indicate that supplier (A1) is the best supplier with a distance score of 3.308.

Multiple criteria decision‐making in healthcare and pharmaceutical supply chain management: A state‐of‐the‐art review and implications for future research

AbstractDecisions in supply chain management (SCM) are subject to numerous conflicting criteria and multiple objectives. For such decisions, multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) methods are definitely appropriate. The implementation of the healthcare supply chain (HSC) is more complex to manage than any other supply chains, as it involves human life, causing conflicts of interest and hindering the final decision. Previous researchers suggested different SC models for healthcare products such as drugs, vaccines, and other medical equipment. This article provides an overview of published articles in the application of MCDM methods in HSCM at the strategic, tactical, and operational levels. We studied and categorized 139 articles published in 2006–2021, providing academic researchers, practitioners, and governments with insights into the application of different MCDM methods. The review allows us to establish guidelines for the selection of appropriate methods for HSC management and provide support to the management of issues in the healthcare and pharmaceutical sector.

Performance evaluation of public healthcare supply chain management: a critical literature review

Performance evaluation of public healthcare supply chain management: a critical literature review

Enhancing Efficiency in Healthcare Supply Chains: Leveraging Machine Learning for Optimized Operations

In this complex strings of healthcare supply chain, optimal efficiency is the most supreme to ensure cost and time effectiveness of medical resources. This paper scrabbles through Machine Learning (ML) classifiers such as, Na¨ıve Bayes, K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), Random Forest, Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Linear Regression to intensify the performance of healthcare supply chain management. This study focuses on five classes: ’Inspection Results’, ’Defect Rate’, ’Transportation Modes’, ’Routes’ and ’Cost’. According to my findings, Random Forest classifier indicated 87% accuracy in the ‘Inspection Results’ and ‘Transportation Modes’ classifications whereas KNN classifier signified an impressive accuracy of 86% in the ‘Routes’ classification. These findings underline the need for ML approaches within different classes. The diversified performances of classifiers within classes highlight the importance of selecting the most suitable algorithm based on supply chain aspect. This research not only shows the effectiveness of ML classifiers in healthcare supply chain optimization but also highlights the possibility of automation for different surface of supply chain management. It provides as a fundamental step for optimizing healthcare supply chain

The role of healthcare supply chain management in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic: hot off the press

PurposeThe study aims to examine the role of health-care supply chain management during the COVID-19 pandemic in a cross-section of 42 selected sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries.Design/methodology/approachThe study used cross-sectional robust least square regression for parameter estimates.FindingsThe results confirmed the N-shaped relationship between the health-care logistics performance index (HLPI) and COVID-19 cases. It implies that initially HLPI increases along with an increase in COVID-19 cases. Later down, it decreases COVID-19 cases by providing continued access to medical devices and personal protective equipment. Again, it increases due to resuming economic activities across countries.Practical implicationsThe continuing health-care supply chain is crucial to minimize COVID-19 cases. The international support from the developed world in providing health-care equipment, debt resettlement and resolving regional conflicts is deemed desirable to escape the SSA countries from the COVID-19 pandemic.Originality/valueThe importance of the health-care supply chain during the COVID-19 pandemic is evident in the forecasting estimates, which shows that from August 2021 to April 2022, increasing the health-care supply chain at their third-degree level would reduce coronavirus registered cases. The results conclude that SSA countries required more efforts to contain coronavirus cases by thrice increasing their health-care logistics supply chain.

Practitioners' learning about healthcare supply chain management in the COVID-19 pandemic: a public procurement perspective

PurposeThe procurement and supply of crucial healthcare products in the early stages of the COVID-19 emergency were chaotic. To prepare for future crises, we must be able to describe what went wrong, and why, and map out ways to build agility and resilience. How can this be done effectively, given the highly complex and diverse network of actors across governments, care providers and supply chains, and the extreme uncertainty and dynamism in the procurement system and supplier markets? The purpose of this study was to capture learning from practitioners in “real time” in a way that could frame and inform capacity building across healthcare systems with varying procurement and supply management maturity.Design/methodology/approachThis exploratory study involved interviews with 58 senior public procurement practitioners in central and regional governments, NGOs and leaders of professional organizations from 23 countries, very early in the COVID crisis. Following the first, inductive phase of analysis leading to five descriptive dimensions, the awareness-motivation-capability (A-M-C) framework was applied in a further round of coding, to understand immediate challenges faced by procurement practitioners, how the complex, multi-level procurement system that shaped their motivations to respond and critical capabilities required to face these challenges.FindingsDevelopments across 23 countries and practitioners' learning about procurement and supply in the pandemic crisis can be captured in five overarching themes: governance and organization, knowledge and skills, information systems, regulation and supply base issues. Together these themes cover the strengths and gaps in procurement and supply capability encountered by procurement leaders and front-line personnel. They highlight the various facets of structure, resource and process which constitute organizational capability. However, to account better for the highly dynamic situation characterized by both unprecedented rivalry and cooperation, analysts must also pay attention to actors' emerging awareness of the situation and their rapidly changing motivations.Originality/valueThe application of the A-M-C framework is unique in the healthcare supply chain and disaster management literature. It enables a comprehensive overview of healthcare procurement from a system perspective. This study shows how increasing system preparedness for future emergencies depends both on developing critical capabilities and understanding how awareness and motivation influence the effective deployment of those capabilities.

Classifying healthcare warehouses according to their performance. A Cluster Analysis-based approach

PurposeThe objective of this paper is to propose an approach to comparatively analyze the performance of drugs and consumable products warehouses belonging to different healthcare institutions.Design/methodology/approachA Cluster Analysis is completed in order to classify warehouses and identify common patterns based on similar organizational characteristics. The variables taken into account are associated with inventory levels, the number of SKUs, and incoming and outgoing flows.FindingsThe outcomes of the empirical analysis are confirmed by additional indicators reflecting the demand level and the associated logistics flows faced by the warehouses at issue. Also, the warehouses belonging to the same cluster show similar behaviors for all the indicators considered, meaning that the performed Cluster Analysis can be considered as coherent.Research limitations/implicationsThe study proposes an approach aimed at grouping healthcare warehouses based on relevant logistics aspects. Thus, it can foster the application of statistical analysis in the healthcare Supply Chain Management. The present work is associated with only one regional healthcare system.Practical implicationsThe approach might support healthcare agencies in comparing the performance of their warehouses more accurately. Consequently, it could facilitate comprehensive investigations of the managerial similarities and differences that could be a first step toward warehouse aggregation in homogeneous logistics units.Originality/valueThis analysis puts forward an approach based on a consolidated statistical tool, to assess the logistics performances in a set of warehouses and, in turn to deepen the related understanding as well as the factors determining them.

Using Lean Six Sigma to Redesign the Supply Chain to the Operating Room Department of a Private Hospital to Reduce Associated Costs and Release Nursing Time to Care.

Continuity of the supply chain is an integral element in the safe and timely delivery of health services. Lean Six Sigma (LSS), a continuous improvement approach, aims to drive efficiencies and standardisation in processes, and while well established in the manufacturing and supply chain industries, also has relevance in healthcare supply chain management. This study outlines the application of LSS tools and techniques within the supply chain of an Operating Room (OR) setting in a private hospital in Dublin, Ireland. A pre-/post-intervention design was employed following the Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, Control (DMAIC) framework and applying LSS methodology to redesign the current process for stock management both within the OR storage area and within a pilot OR suite, through collaborative, inclusive, and participatory engagement with staff. A set of improvements were implemented to standardise and streamline the stock management in both areas. The main outcomes from the improvements implemented were an overall reduction in the value of stock held within the operating theatre by 17.7%, a reduction in the value of stock going out of date by 91.7%, and a reduction in the time spent by clinical staff preparing stock required for procedures by 45%, all demonstrating the effectiveness of LSS in healthcare supply chain management.

Role of Hospital Digital Services in Improvement of Clinical Regime of Patients

Context: Healthcare supply chain management is the regulation of the flow of medical goods and services from manufacturers to patients. Supply chain management encompasses the planning and managing of all activities involved in sourcing and procurement, conversion, and all logistics management activities. Therefore, it greatly helps material managers to manage through continuous improvement efforts while maintaining the quality of care. Moreover, reinforcing healthcare logistics information technology (IT) architecture immediately leads to more patient satisfaction.
 Objectives: This study aimed to develop an architecture for designing efficient software aiding with the management of the healthcare supply chain.
 Methods: This study showed the role of digital services in the improvement of the clinical regime of patients by presenting different approaches with distinguishing the main types of hospital logistics, such as physical flow management, food safety, and cold chain management approaches (e.g., “moving forward”), and modeling these components using the solution architecture principles of ITs, such as Business Process Model and Notation.
 Results: This study proposed a hospital enterprise architecture by modeling a system to have a base for building a digital catering service that improves the clinical regime of patients.

Development of supply chain value stream map for government-supported drug distribution system

PurposeThe requirement of high-quality government-supported healthcare services has necessitated the significance of recognizing new management practices to enhance patient satisfaction. Hence, the purpose of this study is to address the patient's enhanced custom needs through the implementation of supply chain value stream mapping (SCVSM) in government-supported drug distribution system (DDS) for enhanced patient's satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachThis study elucidates the role of one popular emerging management technique (i.e. SCVSM) in the healthcare sector by an investigative case study. The DDS in Rajasthan (India) was selected for this study. The data for this analysis were gathered in three ways (i.e. direct observation, documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews).FindingsThe outcome of this current study reveals that it is possible to apply the tool (SCVSM) to investigate the wastes in DDS to deliver the medicines at right time, right quantity and right quality. The application of SCVSM concluded that the various Kaizens (areas needed to improve) in lead time; transportation and routing should be adopted. The study further implemented kaizen on the current SCVSM and developed future SCVSM.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough various stages and functions exist in the healthcare supply chain, the current study is focused on the distribution system of drugs. The proposed approach provides a platform for both researchers and academicians to understand the existing DDS and to implement the SCVSM approach in the healthcare environment. The results show that the proposed SCVSM model is able to identify some operational bottlenecks and wastes which interfere in DDS.Originality/valueIt was observed that limited literature related to lean implementation on DDS and implementation of SCVSM on the healthcare environment in general and government-supported or public in specific are available. The current study on the application of SCVSM in DDS is unique in nature and will definitely add value to the existing literature of the application of value stream mapping (VSM) on the healthcare supply chain management field.

Healthcare supply chain management: Towards 3D MRI aorta model with CPU-GPU parallel architecture for medical manufacture

Healthcare supply chain management: Towards 3D MRI aorta model with CPU-GPU parallel architecture for medical manufacture

Healthcare supply chain for China’s Belt and Road Initiative during COVID-19

COVID-19 paused people lives and recombine various industry operation system. The China’s Belt and Road Initiative have been intensively studied for their role in healthcare industry, the nations among them came together to defeat COVID-19 by building new healthcare system for protect public health condition. Pandemic periods inspect the previous healthcare supply chain system inefficiency in the operation situation matches with the current social development. This article compares the traditional healthcare supply chain management and novel one developing with the medical pandemic. Simultaneously, the new supply chain process illustrates the new pattern healthcare supply chain under COVID-19 in China’s Belt and Road Initiative countries. Taken together, the results of this article, potentially representing a novel healthcare supply chain developing process during pandemic in China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Linear programming with fuzzy parameters for inventory routing problem in effective management of personal protective equipment: a case study of corona virus disease 2019

ABSTRACT Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) brings about severe disruptions for human living, economics, and environmental balance. This pandemic has boosted the demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) and thus, medical wastes. Thus, a research hypothesis is stated whether it would be possible to provide more efficient distribution and inventory planning to optimize the PPE availability in a fuzzy environment. To confirm the hypothesis, in addition to addressing a scientific novelty considering integration of linear programming with fuzzy parameters, named as the Jimenez’s method and clustering heuristic methods, the practicality of these approaches is provided on a real case study and generated instances from Turkey. The computational results reveal that clustering the 32% of the hospitals ensures optimum total cost and solution time while feasibility degree changes between 0, 4, and 1 values of the Jimenez are not more effective on the results. Improved cost results reveal the economic importance of the healthcare supply chain management and optimal PPE distribution and inventory planning can break down the disease propagation and reduce the detrimental impacts on human life. The proposed approach, for the first time, ensures practical and theoretical insights of distribution and storage decisions across disciplines, namely, engineering and health-care organization authorities.

An integrated decision-making model for supplier evaluation in public healthcare system: the case study of a Spanish hospital

PurposeIn this study, an integrated decision-making model consisting of decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL), best worst method (BWM) and a modified version of evaluation based on distance from average solution (EDAS) methods is proposed for supplier selection problem in a public procurement system considering sustainable development goals.Design/methodology/approachDEMATEL and BWM methods are used to determine weights of the criteria that are defined for the supplier selection problem. Weight aggregation method is applied to combine the weights obtained from these two methods. A modified version of EDAS method is then used in order to rank the alternative suppliers.FindingsThe proposed decision-making model is investigated for a supplier selection problem for a hospital in Spain. The validity of the results is checked using comparison with other decision-making methods and several performance analysis tests.Practical implicationsThe proposed multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) model contributes to the healthcare supply chain management (SCM) and aims to lead the policy makers in selecting the best supplier.Originality/valueThere is no such study that combines DEMATEL and BWM together for weight generation. The application of the modified EDAS method is also new. In real time situations, the decision experts may confront to the difficulty of using BWM while identifying the best and the worst criteria choices. The idea of using DEMATEL is to aid the experts to make them enable in distinguishing between the best/worst criteria and handle BWM easily.

Performance analysis of healthcare supply chain management with competency-based operation evaluation

The performance analysis of healthcare supply chain management (SCM) has become extremely important as healthcare systems have begun to struggle to enhance operational efficiency and diminish costs. The aim of this study was to measure healthcare SCM in accordance with competency-based operation evaluation. The study was organized as a hierarchical structure based on the main processes, sub-processes, and their operations of healthcare SCM. It is considerably difficult to quantify the competency of an operation. Therefore, a fuzzy model was developed to measure healthcare SCM performance according to competency-based operation evaluation. The fuzzy model consisted of evaluation and measurement levels. The first-level assessed the operations that measured the competency of the operation using a fuzzy heuristic algorithm. The second-level measured the performance of healthcare SCM using a fuzzy rule-based system established based on the performance of the main SCM processes. This model was used to measure the performance of SCM and evaluate the activities of five hospitals operating in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The findings were determined to be helpful for healthcare systems to identify and enhance weak processes and their sub-processes in order to provide competitive advantage against competitors.