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Information technology strategy for a patient-oriented, lean, and agile integration of hospital pharmacy and medical equipment supply chains

Both public and private hospitals are increasingly under pressure to reduce costs while improving patient care across all medical disciplines and departments. Hospitals must become patient-oriented, lean, and agile in order to properly realign and integrate health care processes, helping to reconcile efficiency imperatives with patient needs and hospital mission. One of the highest potential for improvement can be found in supply chain management (SCM) practices for medical supplies, which often represent more than 40% of a hospital’s operating budget. We report on 3 case studies of business process management and reengineering projects, relying on advanced information technology, focused on the supply chains of two major urban hospitals, involving $2 million in minimum stocks for drug inventory. Case study 1 deals with an in-depth analysis of SCM practices around a key medical asset in pharmaceutical supply, i.e. infusion pumps. Case study 2 builds upon the findings of case 1, and proposes an radio-frequency identification solution to support a new hospital-wide asset location process and system, aiming for just-in-time availability of infusion pumps for critical drugs administration. Case study 3 complements cases 1 and 2 by analysing the feasibility of integrating the various components of the hospital pharmacy inventories, which in turn could be integrated to asset location systems. Our 3 case studies lead us to a number of conclusions on how hospitals can develop a patient-oriented, agile, and lean perspectives and practices, as well as ensure the proper integration of patient needs within optimised supply chains.