During the last decade, the health care sector has changed rapidly. Due to increased competition, the growing influence of patient-associations and a necessity to deliver health services in a more efficient and effective way, many health care organisations have started projects in the area of patient logistics, clinical pathways, data interchange and vertical integration (Aptel and Pourjalali, 2001). Moreover, the redesign of hospital services and the implementation of integrated care programmes are frequently addressed as being critical strategies to decrease resource utilization and improve health care quality. This e-book contains four papers which explore the complexity of Supply Chain Management in health services. Clearly, much research work needs to be done. All contributing authors emphasize the fact that Supply Chain Management in a health care setting is characterized by some unique features which make it difficult to transfer knowledge from the industrial sector to a health care sector in a direct way. At the same time however, it can be concluded that existing concepts, models and supply chain practices can be extended to Supply Chain Management in health services and existing research underpins the assumption that the health sector can benefit from the lessons learned in the industrial sector.

This e-book aims to provide a more thorough understanding of Supply Chain Management in health care services.