Greece has been seriously affected by the economic crisis. In 2011 there were reports of 40% reduction to public hospital budgets. Occasional shortages of medical supplies have been reported in mass media. We attempted to pivotally investigate the frequency of medical supplies shortages in two Greek hospital units of the National Health System and to also assess their possible impact on burnout...

OBJECTIVE Drug shortages were a complex global problem. The aim of this study was to analyze, characterize, and assess the drug shortages, and identify possible solutions in Shaanxi Province, western China. METHODS A qualitative methodological approach was conducted during May-June 2015 and December 2015-January 2016. Semi-structured interviews were performed to gather information from repres...

Semiconductor capital equipment is manufactured in a high-mix and low-volume environment at Varian Semiconductor Equipment business unit of Applied Materials. Due to the demand growth over the past years, Varian has been continuously improving its operations practices to increase the factory capacity without investing additional floor space or labor shifts. A hypothesis-driven analysis is used ...

Short-term back orders and long-term unavailability of drug products have been a challenge to pharmacy managers for many years. Nevertheless, these drug product shortages have been increasing in frequency and severity since the late 1990s. The causes are varied and involve all segments of the “supply chain.” Changes in policies and practices among these segments individually and collectively co...