Date of Graduation

8-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration (PhD)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Supply Chain Management

Advisor/Mentor

Dobrzykowski, David D.

Committee Member

Fugate, Brian S.

Second Committee Member

Bradley, Randy V.

Third Committee Member

Rosales, Claudia

Fourth Committee Member

Hisscock, Ed

Keywords

Supply chain; Hospital; Financial stability; Patient care

Abstract

Hospitals across the USA are operating under extreme financial stress and looking for opportunities to improve financial stability and maximize bottom-line savings. As supply chain function accounts for up to 40 percent of total hospital operating cost, hospital leaders are increasingly viewing the healthcare supply chain as a potential area for efficiency gain and cost reduction. The recipe for effective and efficient care delivery is to synchronize the flow of supplies with patient needs by integrating products, processes, and information while complying with government regulations. Therefore, proper management of inventory, role of government policies in shaping hospital strategies, adoption of advanced technologies, and physicians’ approach to care delivery are some of the essential factors in driving performance and risk, and hence, for possible efficiency improvement. The three essays of this dissertation empirically examine these important factors by analyzing both publicly available and proprietary archival data. Using a systems theory perspective, essay 1 highlights how advanced health information technology (HIT) adoption (i.e., Real-Time Location System or RTLS) drives supply chain efficiency as measured by inventory reduction, and performance improvement in hospitals. Through the theoretical lens of coercive isomorphism and complex adaptive system framework, Essay 2 illustrates how coercive pressure from the government influences hospitals’ HIT adoption practices. Furthermore, this essay also highlights the differential impact of HIT bundles on hospital performance and data breaches, which is a major operational risk in today’s burgeoning IT landscape. Finally, essay 3 uses cognitive load theory to illustrate how physicians’ procedure focus and manufacturer variation influence efficiency (waste reduction) and cost performance in surgical operating rooms. Overall, the three essays tie back to the factors critical in driving efficiency and reducing risk in the resource-intensive care delivery segment of the healthcare supply chain and generate novel actionable insights that will advance theory and practice.

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