An Investigation of the Healthcare Supply Chain Preparedness: A Literature Review

Abstract

At the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries struggled to predict, quantify and secure essential medicines and supplies. This challenge created the necessity to explore existing literature on the effects of supply chain management and preparedness on healthcare quality, aiming to uncover valuable insights. Articles published between 2015 and 2020 were examined for their objectives, methods, findings and recommendations. The analysis shows that several factors play an important role in developing an adaptive healthcare supply chain that improves and sustains healthcare delivery, both as facilitators and barriers. The evaluation of these articles uncovers several key elements that are critical to understanding the impacts, benefits, challenges, and barriers associated with healthcare supply chain management implementation. Despite high spending on healthcare, it became clear that the country's healthcare system was not prepared for such a health shock. Therefore, more attention should be paid to health systems and the health sector in general in order to be better prepared for future shocks.