Nearly every eighth German hospital faces an elevated risk of bankruptcy. An inappropriate use of inventory management practices is among the causes. Hospitals suffer from demand and lead time uncertainty, and the current COVID-19 pandemic worsened the plight. The popular business logistics concept of risk pooling has been shown to reduce these uncertainties in industry and trade, but has been neglected as a variability reduction method in healthcare operations research and practice. Based on a survey with 223 German hospitals, this study explores how ten risk pooling methods can be adapted and applied in the healthcare context to reduce economic losses while maintaining a given service level. The results suggest that in general risk pooling may improve the economic situation of hospitals and, in particular, inventory pooling, transshipments, and product substitution for medications and consumer goods are the most effective methods in the healthcare context, while form postponement may be unsuitable for hospitals due to the required efforts, delay in treatments, and liability issues. The application of risk pooling in healthcare requires willingness to exchange information and to cooperate, adequate IT infrastructure, compatibility, adherence to healthcare laws and regulations, and securing the immediate treatment of emergencies. Compared to manufacturing and trading companies, hospitals seem to currently neglect the variability reducing effect of risk pooling.

几乎每八分之一的德国医院都面临着更高的破产风险。原因之一是使用库存管理做法不当。医院受到需求和交货时间不确定性的困扰，当前的COVID-19大流行加剧了困境。流行的商业物流风险分担概念已被证明可以减少这些行业和贸易中的不确定性，但是在医疗保健运营研究和实践中却被忽略为减少变异性的方法。在对223家德国医院进行的一项调查的基础上，本研究探讨了如何在医疗保健领域调整和应用十种风险分担方法，以减少经济损失，同时保持给定的服务水平。结果表明，总体而言，风险分担可以改善医院的经济状况，尤其是库存分担，转运，在医疗保健领域，用药物和消费品替代产品是最有效的方法，而由于所需的努力，治疗的延误和责任问题，推迟表格的形式可能不适合医院。风险池在医疗保健中的应用要求有交换信息和进行合作的意愿，充足的IT基础架构，兼容性，遵守医疗保健法律和法规并确保紧急情况的即时处理。与制造业和贸易公司相比，医院目前似乎忽略了风险汇总的降低可变性的作用。和责任问题。风险池在医疗保健中的应用要求有交换信息和进行合作的意愿，充足的IT基础架构，兼容性，遵守医疗保健法律和法规并确保紧急情况的即时处理。与制造业和贸易公司相比，医院目前似乎忽略了风险汇总的降低可变性的作用。和责任问题。风险池在医疗保健中的应用要求有交换信息和进行合作的意愿，充足的IT基础架构，兼容性，遵守医疗保健法律和法规并确保紧急情况的即时处理。与制造业和贸易公司相比，医院目前似乎忽略了风险汇总的降低可变性的作用。