A Dyadic Perspective on Cooperation in the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain in the Light of Current and Future Trends in the Pharmaceutical Market in Poland

The health care system in Poland is a very complex system in which its participants combine their various political, social and economic interests. Often, the diagnosis of the state of this system has a multi-faceted dimension, but always specific social awareness of the quality of its functioning is an expression of the perception of the state's activity in this area. Especially since its basic units (Primary Health Care—(pol. POZ), such as clinics, hospitals or medical, nurse and midwifery practices, could not function properly without an efficient pharmaceuticalPharmaceutical market. This market can be considered one of the most developed branches of the economy in Poland, but at the same time it is subject to constant changes, both in terms of the ownership structure of entities in this industry, the rules of trading, primarily in medicinal products, and the administrative system of public health care management itself. A special legal and logistical relationship is the “dyatic” connection between the pharmaceuticalPharmaceutical wholesale market and the pharmacy (retail) market, because the principles of Good Distribution Practice (pol. DPD) are generally applicable in the drug distribution process. The main goal of this chapter is to identify and present the characteristics of the basic features and structure of the pharmaceuticalPharmaceutical market in Poland and the structural and functional key segment of the pharmaceutical supply chainSupply chain, i.e. the pharmaceutical wholesale and retail pharmacy market. The research process used a methodological approach based primarily on “mixed methods” and “desk research”, but also on creative systematics and synthesis. The most important issues were analyzed based on key secondary data and the main legal regulations were analyzed in the context of specific groups of entities (distribution levels) involved in the distribution process on the pharmaceutical market. This allowed for the presentation of the key characteristics and synthetic analysis in terms of logisticsLogistics of the following key links in the “dyatic” optics, the main intermediaries on the pharmaceutical market, i.e., wholesalers and pharmacies. The most important factors of cooperation in the pharmaceutical supply chainSupply chain between these links are: punctuality of deliveries, completeness of deliveries and speed of deliveries. However, trade and logistics relations between pharmaceutical wholesale entities and the retail pharmacy market are multi-faceted in terms of complexity and high logisticLogistics requirements, and are subject to strong regulation by authorized external entities, and are also shaped by nationwide health care policy.