Logistics

Conclusion

C.1. Sheet 42: Conclusion – Some Atypical Logistics

Key point

Logistics is a “rich” profession because it is constantly evolving and expanding. The logistician must possess diverse skills, not only in his own field, but also in areas that support logistics. We conclude this overview of logistics by presenting some “atypical” logistics.

C.1.1. Hospital logistics

Hospital logistics is defined as “a set of design, planning and delivery activities that enable the procurement, inventory management and replenishment of goods and services surrounding the benefit of medical services to patients”. [LAN 00, LAN 02]. It is also perceived as “an open whole crossed by human, material, informational and financial flows, made up of various autonomous entities (suppliers, hospital services (emergency, operating room, pharmacy, cardiology…), logistics providers, medical providers…) that use limited resources (time, material, assets, workers) and coordinate their actions through an integrated logistics process in order to improve their collective performance first and foremost (patient satisfaction, global optimization of hospital operations), but also their individual performance in the long term (maximization of an entity’s profit)” [FÉN 04, FÉN 05, AND 07].

Hospital logistics is considered important for strategic decisions of hospital management because of:

• – Increasing financial pressure on healthcare institutions. For control bodies, such as the Agences Régionales de ...