Development process of a pharmaceutical delivery system utilizing information and communication technology: Case study in the northern part of Kawasaki

Abstract

This study illustrates how a stable delivery system utilizing information and communication technology (ICT) was developed in the northern part of the city of Kawasaki. The delivery system was part of a pharmaceutical wholesaler's management strategy reqiring massive investment as a means of differentiation as well as mediation by the regional pharmaceutical association for increasing the ICT penetration rate of member pharmacies. The regionally specific healthcare environment involved a large market; scarce medical resource such as pharmacies, hospitals, and hospital beds; and dependence on St. Marianna University School of Medicine Hospital for many of its medical resources. The pharmaceutical wholesaler made a massive investment in an information system development based on this environment The regional pharmaceutical association represented the interests of each pharmacy to avoid the risk of a shortage of pharmaceuticals and provided indirect support for introducing ICT. Previous studies examining the relation between ICT and cities tended to focus only on technological characteristics and assumed that ICT is introduced equally regardless of region. However, the present case study shows that ICT function is affected by the environment specific to urban pharmaceutical supply chains including locations of pharmacies and hospitals, topographic conditions, market size, and demand distribution. The behavior of the related actors also allowed ICT to support a stable pharmaceutical delivery system.