E-Procurement Readiness Assessment in Hospitals: A Novel Hybrid Fuzzy Decision Map and Grey Relational Analysis Approach

Abstract

E-procurement systems provide many opportunities to improve supply and procurement activities in the healthcare sector. However, their implementation has failed in several cases. Accordingly, adequate preparation is quite necessary at the pre-implementation stage. In this research, a holistic framework has been developed to evaluate e-procurement readiness in hospitals. Critical success factors in the implementation of e-procurement systems are explored based on the literature and experts’ opinions. Twenty-six critical success factors have been identified and categorized across five dimensions: management, technology, process, human resources, and environment. Also, the most influential factors affecting hospital readiness for the successful implementation of the eprocurement system are characterized. The most important factors are identified using Grey Relational Analysis (GRA). The cause-and-effect relationships and the interplay among the factors are investigated by adopting a Fuzzy Decision Map (FDM) approach. To evaluate the proposed framework in practice, it is applied to a case study of a specialty hospital located in Tehran, Iran. This research, along with the development of readiness assessment literature in terms of theory and methodology, provides a valid tool to be applied during the pre-preparation stage of e-procurement systems.