Kit Check’s Clinical Solutions Specialist AJ Rivosecchi, Pharm.D., recently held a webinar to discuss what we call the diversion gap—the space between controlled substance dispense activity and documentation where inventory can go missing.
Hosted by IHFDA, the webinar covers key findings from our 2018 Hospital Pharmacy Operations Report, especially as they relate to the opioid crisis. AJ discusses the need for better opioid tracking in hospitals, common approaches to diversion monitoring and their challenges, and the prevailing thought processes around the diversion gap and what can be done about it.
Drug diversion risk and mitigation is a top 5 challenge for hospitals and health care systems today, and it is a near and present problem. We know that diversion effects multiple groups, from patients to the hospital to the community as a whole. Hospitals and health systems must find new tools and establish new policies to track controlled substance use in their facilities if they want to stay ahead of diversion risk and close the gap.