The decision to insource compounded sterile preparations in your hospital’s pharmacy is not a small one. Insourcing sterile compounding services can bear a heavy burden, including managing calculations and yields, space and staffing level considerations, and capturing and managing data and records. That’s a lot of work for a pharmacy department already dealing with drug shortages.
When an emergency strikes, or a large scale event occurs, pharmacy production demands could increase dramatically, depending on the health system’s ability to obtain needed products from a 503b outsourcing facility. Without robust sterile compounding processes in place, your staff—of which you might have fewer—will have to pick up this complex process quickly.
Here are the critical and ongoing challenges your health system faces when you aren’t prepared for pharmacy supply chain disruption—and how you can plan ahead.
The problem: Ongoing drug shortages lead to greater risk during an emergency
Pharmacies were experiencing diminished supplies of controlled substances long before COVID-19. Many hospitals couldn’t get adequate supplies of controlled substances needed in the ICU, OR, or procedural areas.
When you add an emergency—like a global healthcare crisis— to an already tenuous operation, the situation becomes more demanding. When COVID-19 first hit, healthcare systems started seeing even more shortages of critical drugs.
Drug shortages had already put a lot of demand on the pharmacy department to repackage and prepare products they had previously received from external commercial sources. If pharmacies weren’t prepared with the right solution and a reliable pharmacy supply chain, the process of learning a new system while dealing with a drug shortage could seem insurmountable.
Long-term pharmacy supply chain issues and the shortages resulting from the pandemic are challenging many pharmacy departments to find a way to create a more self-sufficient pharmacy supply chain, by insourcing their compounding needs. Finding the right software solution to optimize their batch compounding processes can provide real relief for the pharmacy.
The solution: Preparing for future drug shortages with a Compounding Management System
Whether it’s a regional emergency, a pharmacy supply chain disruption, or another day at the hospital, pharmacies should always be prepared for drug shortages.
A Compounding Management System helps you plan for the future and keep your patients safe with electronically documented Master Formulations, Ingredient Verification, IV Workflow, and Batch Records. By implementing a software solution now, you can quickly pivot the next time you face drug shortages to ensure your staff have the tools they need to ramp up sterile product services.
That’s why we created Assure-Trak® Compounding Management System, a system designed for pharmacists, by pharmacists, specifically to meet the needs of your facility. You can deploy one solution across an enterprise to fulfill the needs of a single hospital, an outpatient infusion center, and your central fill facility distributing within your network of affiliated hospitals.
By implementing a Compounding Management System now, you not only improve efficiencies and quality control within your pharmacy but also execute a stronger risk management strategy against future pharmacy supply chain disruption.
Contact ConsortiEx today to learn more about how compound management software can help you minimize risk and stay one step ahead of the next emergency.