Evaluating the Effect of Electronic Logistics Management Information System Facility Edition (eLMIS FE) on the Healthcare Supply Chain Management Performance in Ndola District Zambia

In recognising the critical role of efficient healthcare supply chain management in ensuring patient access to vital medications, the electronic Logistics Management Information System (eLMIS) seeks to streamline this process. This study evaluated the effect of eLMIS on healthcare supply chain management (HSCM) performance in Ndola district. A pragmatic research philosophy was adopted and a mixed methods design was employed, combining quantitative data from a questionnaire with qualitative insights from semi-structured interviews with 115 healthcare workers across three facilities.  Findings indicate that the eLMIS is integral to daily operations in healthcare facilities, with 13.9% of participants using it daily, 15.7% using it weekly and 60.9% using it monthly. The study identifies stock availability as the primary performance indicator monitored by 96.5% of respondents tailed by Timeliness of orders (59.1%) and data quality (44.3%). The R value of 0.649 indicates a moderate to strong positive correlation between the predictors and the supply chain performance outcomes. This suggests that the eLMIS utilisation practices, as a set of independent variables, have a substantial influence on the various aspects of supply chain performance measured in this study. The results show that the regression sum of squares (51.879) is significantly higher than the residual sum of squares (71.112), leading to a substantial F-value of 13.132 with an exceptionally low p-value of less than 0.001, providing strong evidence to reject the null hypothesis. This finding indicates that the model as a whole is highly statistically significant, meaning that the set of eLMIS utilisation practices included as predictors collectively have a meaningful and robust relationship with the various dimensions of supply chain performance. Recommendations include developing targeted training programs, implementing monthly or quarterly reporting cycles and data audits that could provide healthcare managers with up-to-date information, enabling them to identify trends and address issues before they escalate.