LEAN PRACTICES AND HEALTHCARE SUPPLY CHAIN PERFORMANCE: AN INTEGRATED DEMATEL-ANP APPROACH

Abstract

Similar to what is obtainable across the globe, the Nigeria healthcare supply chain system has been faced with increasing risks, cost pressure, and complex governing regulations on the basis of its products’ uniqueness, complexity, and cost. Thus, this has continuously made medications to fail in meeting the needs of the right end-user at the right time, right cost, and right quality. To address the challenges identified, this study assessed the influence of lean practices on healthcare supply chain performance. To achieve this, the study employed a quantitative and survey-based research design with the aid of Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory and Analytical Network Process (DANP). Using the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) as the unit of analysis, the supply chain practitioners which totalled forty-two were engaged as the unit of observation. The findings revealed that to improve healthcare supply chain performance, compared to other lean practice, the value stream mapping is of upmost importance followed by the standardization of supply chain processes. Moreover, at the performance metric, the cost factor within the healthcare supply chain system is positioned most important by experts for aiding improved supply chain performance on both sides of the analytical procedure followed by service level. Among the key performance indicators, waste reduction is positioned most important as against inventory cost. However, the indicator inventory cost needs not to be negated in decision making, as DEMATEL analysis of expert opinion ascribe it as the most important and influential within the key performance indicators.