It is critical to prevent drug shortages in order to provide consistent care to patients. However, doing so necessitates preparation for a variety of events that may result in a shortage.
FREMONT, CA: At any given time, a hospital pharmacy faces difficult inventory management difficulties. Preventing medicine shortages necessitates the use of strategies. one must find strategies to keep costs low while offering excellent care. One must also be able to carry the innovative new drugs that patients require. Here are some approaches to achieving these common inventory management objectives.
One Should Be Proactive to Prevent Drug Shortages
It is critical to prevent drug shortages in order to provide consistent care to patients. However, doing so necessitates preparation for a variety of events that may result in a shortage. Such as the scarcity of raw materials. This is a recall. A manufacturing hiccup. Or a sudden increase in demand. To manage all of these complexities, you must develop proactive communication techniques with all stakeholders in the medication supply chain.
One should have proactive communication with three key groups:
- Distributors and manufacturers. One should inform them of one's drug requirements and any changes in one's purchasing habits. One can ask them to notify if a medication one requires becomes unavailable and whether this is a short-term or long-term problem.
- Other hospitals in the system. One must know which hospitals have specific medications and how many of each. When there is an issue, one can relocate inventory and share drugs with other hospitals in one's system.
Staff within the health system. If a hospital is part of a larger system, form a board or committee that is above the individual pharmacies. This group of people may help ensure that inventory best practices are communicated throughout the health system.
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