PORTFOLIO MODEL HOSPITAL PURCHASING
Hospital purchase. Purchasing portfolio model. Agency Theory. Private hospitals. Classification of items purchased.
Hospital purchasing management works with different item categories. Such categories, depending on their nature of supply, demand and technological knowledge, affect the rationality of the buyer. Considering the criteria and strategies of purchases intrinsic to the hospital context, the present study aims to propose a hospital purchasing portfolio model to classify purchased items. Conflicting interests among actors in the hospital supply chain are discussed in the light of Agency Theory. In the methodological aspect, the study uses a qualitative and quantitative approach. A systematic literature review (RSL) was carried out to identify the criteria and strategies used in the hospital purchasing decision process. The criteria, derived from RSL, were evaluated through an online survey of 39 purchasing managers from large private hospitals in the South, Southeast and Northeast regions of Brazil. The data were submitted to principal component analysis (PCA), which validated eleven criteria (time, cost, reputation, negotiation, monopoly, volume, customization, storage, assistance, medical preference and knowledge) belonging to three main components. The latent variables, derived from the PCA, formed the dimensions of the proposed model: universal purchasing parameters; dependence on supply; and asymmetry of knowledge.