A systematic literature review on health-care logistics

Purpose Despite significant technological advancements, the health-care logistics continues to face severe disruptions affecting its efficiency. These challenges emphasize the need to conduct a systematic literature review to examine the current state of health-care logistics and identify key research gaps. This study also aims to provide directions for future research to strengthen health-care logistics systems. Design/methodology/approach This study conducts a systematic literature review of 307 articles from 2003 to March 2023 in the context of the logistical operations of health-care supply chain. Findings This study categorizes the health-care logistic operations in three groups: pharmaceutical and biomedical, biologicals and hospital logistics. Emergency logistics is considered as a special case. The findings of this review highlight the importance of resilient and sustainable health-care logistics framework, mitigating its climatic impact by conserving natural resources. This, in turn, impacts the economic conditions like rise in fuel prices. Hence, it demands investment initiatives for an efficient, resilient and sustainable health-care logistics. A conceptual framework has also been developed for future research. Practical implications The logistics sector has a direct correlation with the conservation of natural resources and its climatic impact due to extensive energy consumption for cold chain operations and other activities. This study urges the necessity to address Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) concerned with “good health and well-being” (SDG 3), “affordable and clean energy” (SDG 7), “responsible consumption and production” (SDG 12) and “climate action” (SDG 13) by enhancing the health-care logistic framework and addressing its underlying issues. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there are no previous studies in the literature that examines the health-care supply chain from the perspective of its logistic operations. This study adds value by providing a comprehensive overview of published work in different areas of health-care logistics and identifying issues that should be subject to future research.