As the U.S. drug industry waits to see how a Pfizer plant damaged by a tornado in North Carolina will affect their pharmaceutical supply, hospital pharmacy leaders have been experimenting with new ways to mitigate drug shortages.
Ochsner Health
A few weeks after a few cancer drugs dipped into short supply, New Orleans-based Ochsner Health's pharmacy team designed a spreadsheet to track inventory across the 46 hospitals it manages.
"That's worked out really well, just to have a good idea of how much is coming in," said Ryan Pepper, assistant vice president of pharmacy supply chain at Ochsner. Because of the chemotherapy shortages, he said his team is "pretty much begging" wholesalers, manufacturers and distributors for drugs.
"Since we have the relationships with the Fresenius Kabis [and] the Hikmas of the world, we've been able to work with them daily to send them our patient numbers and be at the front list so when that drug comes in, it's clocked, scanned [and] goes into our perpetual inventory system," Mr. Pepper said. "Are we in dire need where we need to postpone care or anything like that? Is there a certain patient population that's not going to be able to get the drug? We're looking at those numbers every day to decide that."
On Monday afternoons, Ochsner's pharmacy team meets to discuss on-hand inventory levels and make a game plan, and on Wednesday afternoons, the pharmacy leaders update the oncology physicians and vice presidents on the shortages.
Lifespan
Lifespan recently added a "lifesaver" to its drug shortage mitigation process, according to Andrew Salzillo, PharmD, manager of pharmacy supply chain at the Providence, R.I.-based system.
In November, Lifespan promoted Wang Lee-Chhum, PharmD, from clinical pharmacist to drug shortage management clinical pharmacist. Creating and filling this new role has "made a world of difference," Dr. Salzillo said.
"There's just so many elements that need to be coordinated during a drug shortage mitigation strategy," he said, such as purchasing, communicating with providers and figuring out if a hospital needs to compound a new solution.
"There are so many steps in the mitigation process," Dr. Salzillo said. "Having someone who's managing and overseeing and coordinating all those steps has made a world of difference in not only our ability to identify shortages but to also communicate and act on shortage."