Revealing the intellectual foundations of healthcare supply chain risk: a bibliometric mapping and research agenda

PurposeSupply chain risks and disruptions pose a significant threat to the healthcare industry. This paper aims to synthesize the research streams in the intersection of healthcare supply chain management and risk management to identify the research gaps and future research directions.Design/methodology/approachWe collected 205 papers published between 2006 and 2023 for the bibliometric analysis for the keyword co-occurrence and co-citation analysis, generating backward- and forward-looking perspectives on the scholarship in healthcare supply chain risk management (HSCRM).FindingsThis study finds a growing scholarly interest in HSCRM. Using bibliometric tools and mapping, this study presents the overall research trends in HSCRM literature and identifies seven research, namely, clusters, cost analysis, allocation, performance management, patient safety, quality, risk assessment and logistics and four research themes, namely, resilience, risk management strategy, healthcare supply chain disruption and data analytics, through the keyword co-occurrence and co-citation analyses. A future research agenda is provided based on these clusters for further investigation in this field.Originality/valueThis study conducted bibliometric analysis to identify clusters and associated themes for insights for further research. This approach helps advance the scholarship and proactively apply the implications in practice beyond the reactive strategy to risk management in healthcare supply chain management.