Efficient Logistical Activities in Healthcare Sector

The healthcare sector is hungry for resources and both public and private sector decision makers are striving for cost reductions without affecting the quality and accessibility of services. This quest for efficiency gains is now paying more attention to support activities such as healthcare logistics that we can define as the design, planning and execution of such activities as purchasing, inventory management, and the replenishment of goods and services required for the delivery of medical services to patients. Over the last decades, there have been several initiatives towards reducing the cost of medical supplies but few efforts were made to optimize the processes through which those supplies are distributed all the way to the final users. The malfunctioning of these logistical services may affect the quality of medical care and often distracts nursing personnel from their primary mission as they are required to accomplish logistical related activities. Indeed, according to several studies, medical care personnel devote 10% of their time to logistical activities.

When trying to optimize healthcare logistics, one faces many difficulties: 1) a diversity of products that are following a variety of distribution networks, 2) various networks being managed by different administrative services which do not communicate well with each other, 3) a lack of standardization between administrative processes, and 4) a large variety of external stakeholders that each have their own requirements and constraints. To face those challenges and improve the management of healthcare logistics activities, several studies have suggested the use of best practices. Based on well documented case studies, we find that the use of such best practices must be part of a long term initiative and be supported by the care unit or hospital.

Based on our findings and on the necessity to improve healthcare logistics in Quebec, we propose a research program with three complementary phases: 1) to develop and validate an audit tool to measure the state of evolution of healthcare establishments in Quebec with respect to the implementation of logistics best practices, 2) to write case studies that will document and explain the implementation strategies that have been successful in improving healthcare logistics, and 3) to prepare a survey questionnaire that will be used with medical care personnel to better understand their perception and issues related to the interface between medical care and logistics related activities.