The study of CPFR implementation model in medical SCM of Taiwan

With the rapid development of information technology and the increasingly ubiquitous presence of electronic commerce, more and more hospitals are migrating online to practice e-procurement with the hope to reduce their huge medical purchase costs. Most existing healthcare systems, however, provide only modest room for effective integration with e-procurement solutions while the dizzying variety of drugs, the challenging task of predicting drug demand, concerns over information confidentiality and various other issues have made it more difficult for hospitals to fully benefit from e-procurement. This study accordingly aims at proposing a Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR) implementation model for integration purchasing, operations and logistics of supply chain in the hospital industry. The benefits of introducing CPFR in the healthcare sector are examined, and AHP is adopted to identify critical success factors. Findings of the study can be expected to provide hospitals with an essential understanding of effective implementation and evaluation of the CPFR model so as to help enhance medical service quality and to safeguard against inefficient purchase and waste of valuable medical resources.