An investigation of healthcare supply chain management and patient responsiveness: An application on public hospitals

This study aims to focus on the impact of supply chain (SC) integration, demand forecasting and supplier performance on patient responsiveness at public hospitals through the mediating role of SC flexibility.

To measure the above stated correlation, a Likert scale with five points and 23 items was used and structural equation modeling was applied. The scale was applied to public hospitals. Statistical software programs (SPSS 18 and LISREL 8.8) were used to analyze the data. The analysis of reported statistics is based on a sample of 129 logistics and SC specialists at public hospitals in the cities representing different regions of Turkey.

The research hypotheses are supported as a result of the analysis. The research reveals that SC flexibility has a mediation effect between SC integration, demand forecasting, supplier performance and patient responsiveness.

The increasing number of population, geopolitical position, migration waves, man-made and natural disasters lead Turkish health-care industry to have effective SC plans to satisfy the patients’ needs successfully and reduce the effects of these fatal events. In this sense, SC flexibility is an important factor for health-care industry in responding changing patient demands. At this juncture, the main point is to bring required resources together in the right place and at the right time. Otherwise, health-care institutions cannot serve the affected people because of the non-availability of supply. To achieve it, public health-care institutions should give more importance to the SC principles.

Success in SC flexibility in health care can directly affect patient welfare. Thus, focusing on the patient responsiveness is an important aim of the health-care industry. However, it was determined that less attention has been given to understanding patient satisfaction as a result of SC operations. The results indicate that patient responsiveness improvement should be included into strategic plans, and SC efforts should be used as a means of satisfying patient needs quickly. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study investigating the mentioned relationships at public hospitals. Findings of this paper will have a significant contribution for researchers and health-care professionals in understanding the impact of SC to patient responsiveness.