This study aims to address this research gap by identifying and ranking the drivers of and barriers to implementing IoT in the health care supply chain.
We conducted a 2-stage study. In the first, exploratory stage, a total of 12 semistructured interviews were conducted to identify drivers and barriers. In the second, confirmatory stage, a total of 26 health care supply chain professionals were asked in a survey to rank the drivers and barriers.
The results show that there are multiple financial, operational, strategy-related, and supply chain-related drivers for implementing IoT. Similarly, there are various financial, strategy-related, supply chain-related, technology-related, and user-related barriers. The findings also show that supply chain-related drivers (eg, increased transparency, traceability, and collaboration with suppliers) are the strongest drivers, while financial barriers (eg, high implementation costs and difficulties in building a business case) are the biggest barriers to overcome.
The findings of this study add to the limited literature regarding IoT in the health care supply chain by empirically identifying the most important drivers and barriers to IoT implementation. The ranking of drivers and barriers provides guidance for practitioners and health care provider leaders intending to implement IoT in the health care supply chain.
目的:本研究旨在通过识别和排名在医疗保健供应链中实施物联网的驱动因素和障碍来解决这一研究差距。
方法:我们进行了2期研究。在第一,探索阶段,总共进行了12次半结构化访谈,以确定驾驶员和障碍。在第二个,确认阶段,在一项调查中,共有26名医疗保健供应链专业人员被要求对驱动因素和障碍进行排名。
结果:结果表明,存在多种财务,操作,与战略相关的,以及实施物联网的供应链相关驱动因素。同样,有各种各样的金融,与战略相关的,供应链相关,与技术相关的,和用户相关的障碍。研究结果还表明,与供应链相关的驱动因素(例如,提高透明度,可追溯性,以及与供应商的合作)是最强的驱动力,而财务障碍(例如,高的实施成本和构建商业案例的困难)是需要克服的最大障碍。
结论:本研究的结果通过经验识别物联网实施的最重要驱动因素和障碍,增加了有关医疗保健供应链中物联网的有限文献。驱动因素和障碍的排名为打算在医疗保健供应链中实施物联网的从业者和医疗保健提供者领导者提供了指导。