OM Forum—Supply Chain Thinking in Healthcare: Lessons and Outlooks

Problem definition : The lessons learned over decades of supply chain management provide an opportunity for stakeholders in complex systems, such as healthcare, to understand, evaluate, and improve their complicated and often inefficient ecosystems. Academic/practical relevance : The complexity in managing healthcare supply chains offers opportunities for important and impactful research avenues in key supply chain management areas such as coordination and integration (e.g., new care models), mass customization (e.g., the rise in precision medicine), and incentives (e.g., emerging reimbursement schemes), which might, in turn, provide insights relevant to traditional supply chains. We also put forward new perspectives for practice and possible research directions for the supply chain management community. Methodology : We provide a primer on supply chain thinking in healthcare, with a focus on healthcare delivery, by following a framework that is customer focused, systems based, and strategically orientated and that simultaneously considers clinical, operational, and financial dimensions. Our goal is to offer an understanding of how concepts and strategies in supply chain management can be applied and tailored to healthcare by considering the sector’s unique challenges and opportunities. Results : After identifying key healthcare stakeholders and their interactions, we discuss the main challenges facing healthcare services from a supply chain perspective and provide examples of how various supply chain strategies are being and can be used in healthcare. Managerial implications : By using supply chain thinking, healthcare organizations can decrease costs and improve the quality of care by uncovering, quantifying, and addressing inefficiencies.