Referring to systems theory, healthcare can be defined as an organized structure in which the elements belonging to it influence one another. The healthcare system, along with its area of operation, is composed of many different segments, such as: government structures, local government, medical resources, and patients. Just as in a logistics system, the healthcare system involves continuous physical, decision-making, and information flows between its most important segments, which are: service recipients (patients), the National Health Fund (NFZ, the so-called payer), service providers, control and supervisory institutions (including the State Sanitary Inspection, the State Pharmaceutical Inspection, the Patient Ombudsman, medical consultants in specific medical specialties), and the Ministry of Health.
The aim of this article is to attempt to indicate the multidimensionality of systems that increase the efficiency of logistics processes in healthcare. The methods of organizing these processes and the tools used to improve them are presented. The paper is of a review nature and was created based on an analysis of literature in the field.
The essence and system of logistics in healthcare
The main entities providing medical services are independent public healthcare facilities. In relation to the activities conducted by these units, it is crucial to view logistics as service-oriented, which is a manifestation of the process of coordinating all intangible activities necessary to carry out a service effectively and according to the client’s suggestions. Logistics generally strives to guarantee availability, interpreted as the right product (service), in the right quantity, in the right condition, in the right place, at the right time, for the right recipient, and at the right price. The problem of availability in this approach includes medical service providers in the following areas:
– “first aid” services – taking into account the organizational structure of emergency medical units, their speed of reaching the call location, providing first aid, and transferring for further treatment,
– services of classically understood medical care – performed in private and public units; this concerns primarily access to doctors of specific specialties, hospital and clinical infrastructure, and medical equipment,
– supplementary medical services – perceived as access to specialized preventive packages.
Logistics activities in such specific units as hospitals, due to their organizational complexity (administration, hospital wards, clinics, laboratories, hospital pharmacy, sterilization, etc.) and functional complexity (wide range and number of services provided), are reflected in the multitude of logistics processes that can be distinguished in their areas of operation. Among these, one can distinguish, among others:
– patient catering, maintenance of cleanliness, laundry, heating, transport,
– supply of medical and other materials,
– warehouse management, material management,
– planning and control of basic and auxiliary activities,
– information flow system,
– contact with the patient (quality chain).
One of the main goals of logistics in healthcare is to search for methods that shorten waiting times and increase access to medical procedures, which leads to a reduction in treatment costs. E. Gołembska points simultaneously to the rapid development of the Medical Information System (MIS), including barcodes, the increasing role of outsourcing (all non-medical activities), and the modernization of medical waste management – as key goals of logistics in the healthcare system.
The result of the intensive development of all kinds of logistics concepts in medical services are professional systems, thanks to which, in units such as a hospital, solutions can be introduced in the scope of:
– patient identification – barcodes on wristbands or electronic identification cards,
– resource control – assigning codes to goods, fixed assets, tests, and materials for testing,
– improving the inventory process by conducting it using an automatic method – marking and reading using barcodes and RFID tags.
Logistics activities are not visible to service recipients (patients), however, their application is closely related to the quality of procedures and the individual perception of medical service. Therefore, they constitute an important area of interest for medical entities.
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Source: Logistyka Magazine