New Book on Health Care Supply Chain

Filed in archive Book Review on February 3, 2006

If there is one area of discourse within supply chain dynamics that has been ignored or underplayed, it is the complexity of the health care supply chain. This lack of evidence-based inquiry has hampered the field, which has lacked a comprehensive, research-substantiated offering. A new book, "Strategic Management of the Health Care Supply Chain," by Eugene Schneller, professor of health management and policy in the W. P. Carey School of Business, and the late Larry Smeltzer, begins to fill the gap.

This book looks at the health care supply chain from a new, holistic perspective, pulling in concepts from strategic planning. The book is based on Schneller and Smeltzer's observations of best practices from progressive health systems such as Swedish Medical Center (Seattle), the Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minn.) and BJC HealthCare (St. Louis).

"Strategic Management of the Health Care Supply Chain" also builds on the key concepts of sourcing, demand forecasts, distribution models, risk assessment and supply management excellence. Readers will find that they can gauge the movement that their own systems have made in improving the supply function.

"While frequently the largest employers in American communities, hospitals have been seen as part of the public service environment that does not produce an 'economic good,'" explains Schneller. "From a supply chain perspective, materials have not been seen as assets. However, more recent economic impact studies demonstrate that hospitals are a major driver of economic development and are part of an overall infrastructure that is necessary -- if not sufficient -- for economic development."

I personally recommend this book to all the people interested in managerial issues in health care industry specially supply chain.