Collaborative purchasing framework for medical product procurement in Thai hospitals

Abstract

An increase in business competition and the cutting price has occurred in every industry globally. Organisations have shifted their awareness to the efficiency of their procurement processes and the significance of collaboration with other organisations to save costs. Hospitals also require an efficient procurement process and cultivate partnerships with their stakeholders to secure and control hospital expenses. We conducted exploratory research investigating factors for developing a collaborative purchasing framework for medical product procurement in Thai hospitals. The key messages were extracted from stakeholders who had direct and indirect experience in medical product procurement through in-depth interviews. The triangulation method was applied in this study to assure the research validity. Eight factors including government intervention, ethical components, corporate governance, expertise, corporate strategy, information technology infrastructure, educational environment, and general agreement between suppliers and purchasers are identified as the essential factors for the collaborative purchasing framework in this study.