Systematic Assessment of the Literature on Healthcare Supply Chain Sustainability Practices and Methodological Trends

Abstract

The ever-growing uncertainties and complexities in health supply chains attract the need to implement sustainability practices in their operations. This study applies a systematic literature review to conduct a comprehensive review from 2008-2023 to identify commonly used sustainability practices and methodological trends. After a comprehensive analysis, 31 articles were included in the final analysis. We observed that several sustainability practices in all three sustainability pillars had been implemented in the healthcare supply chain. This includes employee welfare and well-being, understanding and managing demand, and green practices. This review found that sustainable practices have great benefits, such as empowering employees and increasing the performance and efficiency of an organization. Also, this review observed that several methodologies are being used in the healthcare supply chain, whereby empirical studies are more than conceptual studies. In empirical studies, the in-depth interview is the most used methodology compared to other methods. This observation shows a clear methodological gap in the healthcare supply chain sustainability, as more of the existing research concentrates only on the in-depth interview. This study sheds light on policymakers growing awareness for the benefit of implementing sustainable practices for improved healthcare supply chain performance. From the researcher's perspective, this review sheds light on the areas that need further investigation, such as social sustainability, which is not well-researched in the healthcare supply chain.