It is to the credit of the authors that they have been able to picture material management concepets and relate them to hospitals in a comprehensive and holistic manner. The challenging task for a first ever book in the country on the subject needs to be complimented.
The book provides a good overview of stores management and procurement procedures in the Indian context. The chapters on procurement procedure including tender system and purchasing have been meticulously written in detail. Authors have described Government procurement procedures in detail. The book scores well on issues of stock verification, distribution and codification and the chapter on inventory control covers varied issues in inventory control. Though all issues have been touched upon it is felt that a more detailed discussion taking both the deterministic and probabilistic models with examples would have brought out the subject with better clarity. A welcome addition in the book would have been a chapter on forecasting. Despite this it must be stressed that the authors have covered vast literature in limited space.
One of the unique features of the book, which no other material management books discuss are the chapters on equipment planning and maintenance. The authors have provided relevant inputs for hospital planning and selection. The other chapters on equipment give a sound insight in hospital equipment repair and maintenance and equipment audit. To keep the book to a reasonable length the authors have given a valuable overview of equipment issues and it is up to the students and hospital administrators to elaborate on it from other relevant literature.
With the liberalization process firmly taking its roots more and more equipment is being imported. The authors have taken a great effort to explain and discuss import procedures including letter of credit, documentation and custom clearance. Not many hospital administrators are familiar with these and the book provides a good appreciation of these procedures.
The chapter on legal aspects discusses the various contractual legalities, which would be in place between the hospital and the contract party. Possibly a discussion on the legalities between the patient and the hosptal in relation to material management would have made the chapter complete. The chapters on CQI and recent trends provide a good insight in the future.
Overall the book is well researched, written and comprehensive, providing a focussed view on the varied issues of material management in hospital. The book would be a valuable addition to all hospital libraries. The simple, easy to understand language will appeal to students in Hospital Administration and hospital administrators. Theh book is also likely to be of immense value to clinicians serving in administrative capacity.