A Study of Hospital Inventory Management

A primary productivity improvement for the hospitals is the reduction of cost of materiel management since material function on average controls 30 to 40 percent of the operating dollars in a hospital. In the past, most Taiwanese hospitals do pay attention to controlling their purchasing cost.

But, the inventory control (inventory record accuracy, quantity, etc.) is neglected in most of hospitals. A computerization is effective only if the managerial functions are active instead of staying in the stage of operational functions. In this research, the inventory control practices, vendor selection practices, material system computerization will be investigated through visiting hospital material managers and questionnaires mailed to hospital material managers.