TY  - JOUR
AB  - Purpose– The objective of this exploratory paper is to find out what is important to consider when developing a supply chain in health care, what is required in order to establish a supply chain orientation and how lean and agile can be used as process strategies in order to improve supply chain performance.Design/methodology/approach– In order to build an empirical framework for using both lean and agile strategies in health care supply chain management illustrative examples are provided from a Swedish health care setting describing the patient flow and planning processes.Findings– Supply chain management has potential to work well as a philosophy for patient flow in the health care sector. However, it should not only be about the use of the concept of lean in health care, as in fact is the case in practice today. It is rather about organizing for quick response and flexibility in a hybrid strategy through combining lean and agile process strategies. This can only be done if a systems approach is applied together with a strategic orientation, where cooperative efforts by the supply chain members should synchronize and converge operational as well as strategic capabilities into a unified whole.Practical implications– The analysis in the paper underlines the importance of focusing on both agility and leanness combined. Hospitals or health care systems that introduce such an approach, as opposed to only relying on lean strategies, could gain both competitive advantages and improved performance.Originality/value– In health care, even more so than in the manufacturing industry, containment of costs without sacrificing quality is important. This paper applies SCM techniques, tools and concepts that have not been used previously for patient flow in a health care setting, combining lean and agile in one and the same analysis.
VL  - 16
IS  - 3
SN  - 1359-8546
DO  - 10.1108/13598541111127164
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/13598541111127164
AU  - Aronsson Håkan
AU  - Abrahamsson Mats
AU  - Spens Karen
ED  - Jan de Vries
ED  - Robbert Huijsman
PY  - 2011
Y1  - 2011/01/01
TI  - Developing lean and agile health care supply chains
T2  - Supply Chain Management: An International Journal
PB  - Emerald Group Publishing Limited
SP  - 176
EP  - 183
Y2  - 2024/04/23
ER  -