Title: A review on methods for materials planning and control in healthcare organisations

Authors: Najla Alemsan; Guilherme Luz Tortorella; Alejandro Francisco Mac Cawley Vergara; Rapinder Sawhney

Addresses: Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Campus Trindade, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil ' Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Campus Trindade, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil ' Pontificia Universidad Catolica, Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins 340, Santiago, Región Metropolitana, Chile ' University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA

Abstract: This study aims at identifying the existing methods for materials planning and control applied in healthcare organisations. An extensive literature review was performed in the main databased based upon two research axes: 1) materials planning and control; 2) health services. Besides the content and bibliometric analysis, literature evidence was analysed from the perspective of two theoretical lenses: types of flow of value and complexity levels of hospital departments. Results from this review allowed the indication of two main research directions: 1) integration among methods for materials planning and control; 2) financial assessment of the implementation of materials planning and control methods in hospitals. The healthcare sector is highly important due to the criticality of it is quality, safety concerning patient care and the high cost involved in its operations. Furthermore, resources are usually limited, complicating its management.

Keywords: healthcare; materials planning and control; literature review.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSOM.2021.119799

International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 2021 Vol.40 No.3, pp.324 - 345

Received: 06 Jun 2019
Accepted: 24 Jul 2019
Published online: 21 Dec 2021 *

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