Factors Influencing Inventory Management Performance In Public Health Sector: A Case Study Of Public Health Sector In Kisii County

Abstract

Inventory management is the process of efficiently overseeing the constant flow of units into and out of an existing inventory. This process usually involves controlling the transfer of units and documenting the delivery of raw materials and movement of these materials into operational processes. A substantial proportion of the scarce resources are used in the procurement of drugs and medicine at public health facilities in order to deliver goods and services required to their customers. Due to the health sector consuming a large proportion of scarce resources there is need to be managed effectively. The purpose of the study was to establish factors influencing inventory management in Public Health Hospitals in Kisii County. The objectives of the study were: to find out the influence of stock replenishment on inventory management performance Public Health Sector; establish how information sharing influences effective inventory management performance of the Public Health Sector; find out the influence of inventory costs on inventory management performance of the Public Health Sector  and  establish influences of demand variability on inventory management performance of the Public Health Sector in Kisii County, Kenya. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The study target population was 45 respondents selected from pharmaceuticals stores department, non-pharmaceuticals stores department and general stores department selected by census sampling technique. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. Findings of the study were overstocking and under stocking of inventory of the Public Health Sector in Kisii County  was  due to inadequate forecasting of requirements, Scheduled time for deliveries, insufficient staff, Scheduled time for receiving,  issuing and unorganized storage facilities affect information sharing between the customer and supplier thus is affecting effective inventory management of the Public  Health Sector; demand variability rating greatly influence  inventory management.

Keywords: Inventory Management, Performance, Health Sector