Sustainable management of the supply chain: measurement of drug stock loss in a university hospital

Abstract

Incorporating sustainable aspects into supply chain management means developing activities that do not cause damage to natural and social systems, while ensuring the organization's efficiency and performance. In this sense, reducing material losses, especially medicines, can be a way to promote sustainability in the hospital area. In this context, the analysis of the sustainable management of the supply chain at the Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre was carried out through the case study, measuring the stock losses of medicines, which are a source of chemical waste generation, in the period of 2010 to 2019. Losses were measured according to the pharmaceutical form, the drug class and the values for disposal. Most of the loss inventory adjustments occurred due to maturity at the Central Warehouse, with pills as the main pharmaceutical form. Through the results, it can also be inferred that the destination of the medicine before the loss is carried out effectively contributes to the elimination of waste and the consequent generation of waste, being in line with the concept of sustainability. These results provide greater efficiency in the management of the supply chain in Public Administration, especially with regard to stock control and sustainability. In addition, the research contributes to the construction of comparative parameters for measuring drug stock losses, in view of their scarcity in academia.