Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore different units of analysis applicable to the analysis of healthcare service supply chains. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a literature review, conceptual analysis and two case studies based on process mapping and longitudinal analysis of patient episodes.
Findings – Process management is appropriate in situations where there is a structured flow with a sufficient volume of similar repetitions. In the case
where there are significant amounts of exceptions, a process can be decomposed into service events that can be defined and managed as part of a supply chain.