Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras and Krea University have recommended that States stagger their procurement orders instead of batching to boost their medical deliveries.
Their study of drug procurement and delivery in four States, for Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Odisha and Punjab, showed that the fill-rates could rise to 53% as compared to an average of 30.95% by following their recommendations.
These States procure essential medicines through State-level medical service corporations. Some states such as Kerala follow a centralised system while others such as Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Odisha follow a decentralised system.
The researchers conducted a study of medicine procurement data between 2015 and 2019 to arrive at their findings. R.P. Sundarraj, professor in the Department of Management Studies, IIT-Madras and Vijaya C. Subramanian, professor, Department of Operations Management, IFMR-GSB, Krea University found that timing the order was important to meet the demands. The States must consider staggering their orders instead of batching.
The researchers relied on data available in the public domain and advice from policymakers to develop their model. Their study findings were published in the journal Social Science and Medicine.
