It seems like just days ago, hospitals were scrambling to secure critical medications and personal protective equipment (PPE) during the height of our global pandemic. Tensions rose as hospital administrators were unsure how to keep staff safe and patients healthy for the day, let alone tomorrow.
In February 2021, President Biden issued an executive order to overcome national supply chain shortcoming. Notably, Biden requested “a report identifying risks in the supply chain for pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients and policy recommendations to address these risks.”
Just a few months later, in June 2021, the White House staff answered the call of President Biden, publishing new policy recommendations in the wake of severe global pharmaceutical supply chain shortcomings during the pandemic.
Now that policies are evolving, what do hospital pharmacy leaders need to know?
Key initiatives from the White House
The White House called out four key pillars within its plan:
- Increasing domestic and international production of Essential Medicines
- Partnering with Health and Human Services to evaluate whether certain drugs, including sterile injectables, should be monitored on the Critical Drug List
- Bolstering R&D that fosters supply chain resilience through innovations in manufacturing and production
- Establishing a framework to measure quality management maturity in the manufacturing of drugs
- Conveying the value of quality management maturity so manufacturers can price transparently for purchasers
- Assessing the shortcomings in quality problems with drug manufacturing, the cause of 63% of drugs that went into shortages between 2013 and 2017, according to the FDA
- Leveraging supply chain data collection to improve healthcare outcomes
- Empowering the FDA to collaborate with industry to monitor threats and mitigate risks to drug supply chains, including those primarily manufactured overseas
For many pharmacies, COVID-19 only brought operational shortcomings to the surface. Hospital administrators, patients, staff, clinicians, and the world all heard about drastic shortages of PPE. But experiencing shortages of certain drugs, and basic medical supplies such as saline, aren’t breaking headline news for hospital pharmacy directors.
Analysis from Healthcare IT News suggests that with current challenges in monitoring drug supply, stakeholders should utilize “commercial sources to identify supply chain risks, while establishing a robust surveillance system” that will sustain the industry long-term.
A solution that ensures clinicians are able to treat all patients quickly, safely, and cost-effectively is imperative.
How do we move forward? Is there a solution available?
Your hospital pharmacy needed a groundbreaking drug surveillance system before our pandemic disrupted the world.
Kit Check’s comprehensive Medication Intelligence offers end-to-end item-level visibility of pharmaceutical products, from manufacturing plant to the patient. We’ve thought of everything:
- Pharmacy inventory tracking: cloud-based, real-time medication inventory management, so no drug goes unnoticed
- Budget optimization: we monitor drug prices, 503B, and stockouts with Bluesight Insights, so all the information you need to balance your budget is at your fingertips
- Prevent drug diversion: keep patients safe with a complete controlled substance record
What is Kit Check’s role in improving pharmaceutical supply chain management?
Kit Check has been centralizing drug data in cloud-based storage for 90% of the unit-dose radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology market in U.S. hospitals. Manufacturers of pharmaceutical products have registered drugs at initial production.
Kit Check has made this resource available to DoseID members, which consists of RFID software providers, RFID Tag manufacturers, automation vendors, and drug manufacturers to advance the DoseID consortium goal of ensuring quality, performance, and interoperability of RFID in healthcare.
DoseID exists to improve drug supply chain data collection, a tenet of the White House’s recent initiatives.
Final Thoughts
Your hospital needs to level-up pharmaceutical supply chain management and distribution, now more than ever. The White House has put hospital pharmacies on notice, and the FDA will prioritize oversight long-term.
Kit Check is here to help you get ahead of the game. Check out our Medication Intelligence Brochure and experience new clarity and success with your comprehensive pharmacy operation.
Unsure how you’ll equip your pharmacy for tomorrow? Contact us today.