Digital Transformation in the Health Product Supply Chain: A Framework for Analysis

Well-functioning supply chains for medicines and other health products are vital for a health system's goals of ensuring access, quality, and efficiency. However, in several countries the performance of government-run supply chains for health products remains subpar. The widespread adoption of digital technology presents new opportunities for enhancing the performance of the health product supply chain. This paper aims to provide a practical and systematic analysis of digital initiatives within health product supply chains. It provides examples of successful digital interventions in each of the Enable, Plan, Source, and Deliver categories of the Supply Chain Operations Reference model. The examples provide clear evidence that the use of digital technology in the health supply chain can improve access and affordability; in some instances, use of digital technology can lead to faster health product adoption and alter the overall architecture of decision making. While many digital interventions in the public sector supply chain target the collection of data and its analysis and use for reporting, the long-term effectiveness of digital solutions hinges on their ability to enhance the agency of supply chain actors. A thorough and systematic inquiry about the logic model of how a particular digital solution enhances agency and improves accountability is essential at the outset. In developing roadmaps to prioritize and sequence digital solutions in health supply chains, governments should start by asking where lack of information is the primary constraint impeding supply chain performance.