The Impact of Hospital Supplier Integration on Performance and Moderating Role of Lean Management Practices

Abstract

Purpose - The primary aim of this study is to empirically examine the effect of hospital supplier integration on hospital performance and to test the moderating role of lean practices in this relationship.
Design/ methodology/approach - Within the scope of the study, data were collected from senior managers of 427 hospitals operating in Türkiye through face-to-face interviews and an online survey method, following the approval of the ethics committee. The collected data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test the proposed hypotheses.
Findings - The findings indicate that among the components of supplier integration, trust, logistics integration, and top management support have statistically significant positive effects on hospitals’ cost, quality, and flexibility performance. Information sharing was found to positively influence quality and flexibility performance. While the use of information technology has a positive effect on cost performance, it was observed to have a statistically significant negative effect on flexibility performance. In addition, lean practices were proven to have a significant moderating role in the relationship between hospital supplier integration and performance.
Discussion - The results demonstrate that hospital supplier integration affects cost, quality, and flexibility performance, and that increasing the level of integration with suppliers contributes to improved hospital performance. These findings provide both theoretical and practical implications regarding the strategic importance of lean principles in supply chain management.