Effectiveness of Inventory management of the Sub-district Health Promoting Hospital in Songkhla Province

Abstract

This research is descriptive research aimed to study the level of knowledge and understanding of inventory management, the level of effectiveness in inventory management of sub-district health promoting hospitals in Songkhla Province, and the correlation between knowledge and understanding of inventory management and the effectiveness of inventory management in sub-district health promoting hospitals in Songkhla Province. The data were collected using voluntary questionnaires. The study population consisted of inventory management workers from sub-district health promoting hospitals under the Songkhla Provincial Public Health Office, totaling 175 people, with 175 questionnaires returned, representing 100.0%. The data were analyzed using a statistical software package, with descriptive statistics including frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and Pearson’s ProductMoment Correlation Coefficient. The overall knowledge and understanding of inventory management revealed that inventory management workers had a moderate level of knowledge and understanding at 56.6%, followed by a high level at 39.4%, and a low level at 4.0%, respectively.
The study results indicated that the overall effectiveness level of inventory management in sub-district health promoting hospitals was high ( = 4.39,  = 0.50). When categorized by aspects, it was found that the aspect of cost-effectiveness had the highest average, which was high ( = 4.47,  = 0.58), followed by the inspection aspect, with effectiveness being high ( = 4.46,  = 0.61), and the efficiency and effectiveness aspect ( = 4.42,  = 0.53), respectively. When analyzing the correlation between knowledge and understanding and the effectiveness of inventory management in sub-district health promoting hospitals in Songkhla Province, it was found that, overall, there was no correlation. However, when analyzed by individual aspects, it was found that knowledge and understanding of inventory management had a low positive correlation with the effectiveness of inventory management in sub-district health promoting hospitals in Songkhla Province in terms of efficiency and effectiveness (r = 0.16, p-value = 0.03).
The recommendations from this research suggest that efforts should be made to enhance the knowledge and understanding of procurement among inventory management workers. This improvement is expected to increase the effectiveness of asset management in sub-district health promoting hospitals in Songkhla Province. Additionally, it is recommended to develop an inventory management manual that clearly and systematically explains the procedures. This manual should be practical and suitable for implementation, thereby making inventory management more effective.