A General Review of Turkish Healthcare Supply Chain Management

Abstract

A strong supply chain management in healthcare institutions improves the healthcare service quality at the micro level and contributes to the national economy at the macro level. The healthcare service includes various producers, suppliers and their activities within the supply chain. Thereby, the performance of these organizations as well as their intra-chain activities affects the healthcare service. On the other hand, to provide a qualified and efficient healthcare service, it is necessary but difficult to manage this versatile chain effectively. The current study aims to provide an overview of supply chain management of Turkish health sector in terms of theoretical and practical aspects. Firstly, the study examines healthcare supply chain management and its components. The following sections discuss drug and medical device manufacturers, wholesale distributors and retailers in the Turkish health sector supply chain. Finally, the problems encountered in the health sector supply chain applications and their possible solutions are discussed. Therefore by providing a better understanding of the supply chain management applications in the healthcare sector, it is intended to provide guidance to both managers and researchers for their future work.