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Healthcare Management vocabulary · Hospital Operations

Procurement

Meaning in healthcare management, with examples

/prəˈkjʊrmənt/nounCommon term

In healthcare management, procurement means: The process of buying goods and services, such as medicines, equipment and cleaning, from choosing suppliers to agreeing prices and contracts.

In Turkish: satın alma, tedarik, ihale

How it is used

Public hospitals must follow strict procurement rules, often with open tenders. Managers talk about procurement processes, procurement teams and savings through joint procurement. 'Purchasing' is the narrower act of placing orders.

Example sentences

  1. Procurement found a supplier that could deliver the same gloves for 15% less.

  2. The new MRI scanner is delayed because the procurement process takes at least six months.

Common collocations

  • procurement process
  • public procurement
  • procurement team
  • joint procurement
  • outsourcingPaying an outside company to provide a service that the hospital used to do itself, such as cleaning, catering, laundry or laboratory tests.
  • operating costsThe everyday costs of running a hospital or service, such as salaries, medicines, supplies, energy and maintenance, not including large investments.
  • capital expenditureMoney spent on buying, building or upgrading long-term assets, such as buildings, scanners or IT systems, rather than on daily running costs.
  • budgetA plan that sets out how much money a hospital or department expects to receive and spend over a period, usually a financial year.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Hospital Operations

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.