Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management

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    The value contribution of sustainable development in the supply chain of the South African healthcare industry
    (2014-01-20) Rooplall, Nirvishee
    The concept of sustainable development is not new to companies. However, the impact on the supply chain has only in the recent past been brought to the forefront of company reporting. This thesis examines the value that is brought to companies in the healthcare industry supply chain through environmental sustainable development efforts. Data was gathered in a qualitative method using semi-structured informal interviews. A range of companies/individuals that forms part of the supply chain formed the sample for the study and two groups of respondents were interviewed. Group 1 consisted of companies and group 2 consisted of doctors/patients. Value creation due to environmental sustainability efforts could not be conclusively proven. A general consensus from the respondents was an acknowledgement that companies and citizens must act in a responsible way towards environmental issues. However company business models for the creation of sustainable supply chains appeared highly subjective, unfocused and often unexpressed that might guide both employees and suppliers. Given this absence of clear guidelines, performance levels varied and no consistent approached could be discerned across the healthcare industry. Although international standards for reporting and performance measurements exist, most companies turn to the government for guidance and support. The apparent ‘low impact nature’ of the healthcare sector was a key consideration for efforts, or the lack thereof, with regards to environmental initiatives. A key finding was the perception shared by most respondents that focus for companies in the healthcare supply chain should be on the quality of product and patient care. These core business operations and efforts could not be sacrificed, or attention shifted away from them, even if a sustainable supply chain could make a difference of the firm’s overall environmental footprint.
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    THE USE OF PHARMACOECONOMICS AS A DECISION MAKING TOOL IN
    (2011-05-31) NAIDOO, PRENISHA
    The high cost of healthcare is of major concern to healthcare providers throughout the world. Globally there has been an increase in the use of pharmacoeconomic tools to help providers to make healthcare reimbursement decisions .South Africa has also become increasingly sensitive to healthcare spend and the South African government has announced proposals to make pharmacoeconomic evaluations part of the drug registration process in the country. It is unclear to what extent pharmacoeconomic evaluations are currently being used in decision making in healthcare. In this research, decision makers from the payer, healthcare prescriber and pharmaceutical manufacturer sectors were interviewed to evaluate the level of current use of pharmacoeconomic evaluations so as to determine the factors driving and inhibiting the use of pharmacoeconomic evaluation tools. Twentyfive semi-structured interviews were conducted and the data obtained were analysed using content analysis, allowing for an in-depth assessment of responses. The research found that pharmacoeconomic evaluations are used at payer and pharmaceutical manufacturer level but its use is limited at the healthcare provider level. The need for cost containment, harmonisation and globalisation in the pharmaceutical industry is a factor driving the use of pharmacoeconomic evaluations. Although these evaluations are not yet a requirement in South Africa, government regulations and requirements are an emerging factor. The use of such evaluations is, however, limited by a lack of education and skills, perceived bias, lack of credibility and perceived poor quality, and lack of methodology, applicability and relevance of economic evaluations in the decision maker’s context and the poor communication and reporting of data.