Balancing public health needs and economic sustainability : a dual-matrix model for community pharmacy inventory management

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Jelić, Ana Golić and Vučenović, Valentina and Vučenović, Saša and Lakić, Dragana and Marković-Peković, Vanda and Kurdi, Amanj and Godman, Brian and Škrbić, Ranko (2026) Balancing public health needs and economic sustainability : a dual-matrix model for community pharmacy inventory management. Exploratory Research in Clinical and Social Pharmacy. ISSN 2667-2766 (In Press)

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Abstract

Background: Community pharmacies must balance public health obligations witheconomic sustainability. However, integrated methods that jointly managemedical and non-medical inventory in community pharmacies in LMICs are limited. Objective : Todevelop and apply a dual-matrix model separating medical from non-medicalproducts into operational control categories and introducing a High–Medium–Lowprofitability (HML-P) classification. Methods : Weconducted a retrospective, descriptive analysis of all items handled in six communitypharmacies in the Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the analyzed2022 year (12-month period) (n=10,541). Medical products were classified byAlways Better Control (ABC) by purchase value and Fast-/Slow-/Non-moving (FSN)by dispensing frequency (predefined thresholds: >4/day=F, 1–4=S, <1=N) toform an ABC–FSN matrix. Non-medical products were classified by ABC and a newHML-P scheme (expert-defined Pareto cut-offs: 70%/20%/10% of cumulative grossprofit) to form an ABC–HML-P matrix. Each matrix was consolidated into threecontrol categories: I (strict), II (moderate) and III (minimal). Results : Non-medicalproducts constituted 76.4% of all items. The ABC–FSN matrix identified Im=149 medical products forstrict control, while the non-medical ABC–HML-P matrix identified Inm=580 items for strictcontrol and a large segment for minimal oversight ( IIInm=6,218 ). A pronounced Pareto pattern was observed (≈10% of items accountedfor 70% of spend and 70% of gross profit), alongside low daily movement (only3.2% dispensed ≥1/day). Conclusions : Theproposed dual-matrix model provides a practical decision-support tool for communitypharmacies. It helps prioritize availability of patient-critical medicalproducts while supporting economic sustainability.

ORCID iDs

Jelić, Ana Golić, Vučenović, Valentina, Vučenović, Saša, Lakić, Dragana, Marković-Peković, Vanda, Kurdi, Amanj ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5036-1988, Godman, Brian and Škrbić, Ranko;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)