OrbitalRX Joins End Drug Shortages Alliance

OrbitalRX Joins End Drug Shortages Alliance

Blog, News

WINSTON-SALEM, NC, June 29, 2022 – OrbitalRX announced today it has joined a new coalition of diverse stakeholders to address drug shortages in the United States. The End Drug Shortages Alliance provides a forum for key stakeholders to take strategic aim at one of health care’s more pressing and enduring issues, drug shortages that disrupt patient care.

“Drug shortages are an ongoing health crisis, making the management of them essential to patient care,” said Nate Peaty, PharmD, MS, OrbitalRX Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer. “By joining the End Drug Shortages Alliance, we can work with hospitals and experts across the country to increase supply chain transparency and find meaningful ways to manage the drug supply.”

The End Drug Shortages Alliance was launched in late 2021 to bring together industry stakeholders, including providers, group purchasing organizations, manufacturers, distributors and other industry thought leaders and champions. Efforts will focus on improving access to medications through greater transparency across market participants, leading to improved quality manufacturing of medications and production of additional supply.

“We are grateful to have OrbitalRX join the alliance to end drug shortages,” said Eric Tichy, division chair of pharmacy supply solutions for Mayo Clinic, who serves as the Chair for the Alliance advisory board. “Collaboration among organizations strengthens our ability to improve the quality of life for patients that rely on these medications. Together, we can make a difference.”

Learn more at EndDrugShortages.com.

About End Drug Shortages Alliance

The End Drug Shortages Alliance is a collaboration of select health systems, supply chain, industry and other stakeholders including group purchasing organizations, manufacturers, distributors and other industry thought leaders dedicated to solving the pharmaceutical supply challenges that disrupt access to essential medications in the U.S. We prioritize initiatives focused on transparency, quality, redundancy and production of additional supply to achieve undisrupted access to essential medications for health care providers and patients.

About OrbitalRX
Co-founded by health system pharmacy leaders, OrbitalRX offers a one-of-a-kind drug shortage management platform which helps to identify risk factors using internal and external data for when a medication shortage could cause harm in your health system. We offer everything you need to anticipate, evaluate, take action, follow-up, and report in a single, powerful platform designed to improve your overall shortage management strategy. To learn more about how we’re changing the way hospital pharmacies monitor their supply and manage shortages in the supply chain, visit www.orbitalrx.com.

A Pharmacy Leader’s Commentary on Becker’s 10 Top Patient Safety Issues for 2021

A Pharmacy Leader’s Commentary on Becker’s 10 Top Patient Safety Issues for 2021

Blog

Becker’s Hospital Review recently published 10 Top Patient Safety Issues for 2021, where Becker’s Clinical Leadership & Infection Control editorial team chose 10 patient safety issues for healthcare leaders to prioritize in 2021. In particular, we are most appreciative to see they’ve highlighted the drug shortage crisis that has plagued this country for years:

Drug and medical supply shortages. Hospitals and health systems experienced remarkable supply shortages in 2020, which pose safety risks for patients and healthcare workers. The U.S. relies heavily on international suppliers like China for personal protective equipment, and imports significantly declined during the pandemic.

 

Across the U.S., healthcare facilities have struggled to obtain enough PPE for staff members treating COVID-19 patients. Many clinicians have been forced to reuse masks or bring in their own PPE to protect themselves and patients. Amid this spring’s COVID-19 surge, some nurses in New York recorded themselves working in plastic garbage bags because systems ran out of gowns. Scammers selling counterfeit PPE also created numerous obstacles for health systems attempting to protect employees and prevent transmission of the virus within their facilities.

 

As of June, the U.S. was facing shortages of more than 200 generic drugs and supplies due to international shutdowns linked to the pandemic. In November, the American Medical Association declared drug shortages an urgent public health crisis and updated its approach to mitigating the shortages. Many drugs in shortage are commonly required for routine patient care and ventilator support, threatening basic care quality and patient safety.

Unfortunately, it comes as no surprise that drug shortages continue to be identified as a top patient safety issue heading into 2021. While we have been encouraged by some of the efforts of the past few years to facilitate more stability in our drug supply chain, it’s safe to say that much still remains to be done as we work to mitigate the harm caused by drug shortages. As reported by AP, government officials intend to “rapidly release most available vaccine doses to protect more people,” which will mean better tracking and managing will be more important than ever. The full extent of the impact fluctuations in drug product availability have on patient safety, public health outcomes, and cost of care remains poorly understood but as awareness continues to grow we expect to see more research and innovation focused on this critically important issue. 

At OrbitalRX, we understand continuing to monitor and manage drug supplies as usual is not an option, so we are doing everything we can through advanced automation and data to support the heroes on the pharmacy and buyer teams that work tirelessly to prevent these events from causing patient harm. This includes actively participating in several research efforts focused on better defining the dynamic behaviors of drug shortages and understanding how they influence the quality of patient care. We owe it to healthcare professionals and our patients to be smarter and more sophisticated in how we address this persistent health threat.

About the Author:

Nate Peaty PharmD, MS

As a health-system pharmacy leader, Nate has been responsible for advancing complex, inpatient pharmacy operations and support systems through innovation. His commitment to furthering the role of automation in hospital operations and passion for designing better solutions for healthcare professionals led him to co-found OrbitalRX where, as its Chief Product Officer, he currently is responsible for corporate and product strategy, research, innovation partnerships, and customer relationships. In his role at OrbitalRX, Nate is designing a new generation of pharmacy automation solutions that challenge assumptions and power a more sustainable infrastructure for health-system and  drug supply chains.

Juniper Alcorn, PhD

A Pharmacy Leader’s Perspective on Recent CIDRAP Recommendations

A Pharmacy Leader’s Perspective on Recent CIDRAP Recommendations

Blog, COVID-19, Uncategorized

Over the past few weeks I have had the opportunity to review and consider many of the points outlined in the recent Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) publication titled, Ensuring a Resilient US Prescription Drug Supply and am deeply appreciative of the thoroughness and thoughtfulness this team approached the topic. Trying to make sense of drug shortages is no simple task but the CIDRAP team did an excellent job and their work will certainly be invaluable to many of the professionals outside of healthcare that are striving to better understand this pernicious and persistent issue. I would like to emphasize a few additional points for discussion, which build on the article’s key theme of transparency.

A Focus on Transparency

It’s impossible to overstate how the current lack of transparency contributes to, not only many of the circumstances that spawn shortages, but also to the exacerbation of shortages that might have been potentially more manageable, or even prevented, in some cases. However, transparency isn’t as straightforward of a goal as it seems at first which is quickly revealed once you start asking the hard question: “exactly what information will be transparent to whom?” The answer is guaranteed to be different depending on who is asking or answering. The general objective of improving transparency is fairly well agreed upon across stakeholders but the exact objective of how that transparency will be defined or even who gets to decide if it is sufficiently transparent remains uncertain. As we flesh out ideas and innovations, like those mentioned in the CIDRAP article, there are some very important considerations to be made if any proposed interventions are going to be successful.

If the federal government is to create a unique entity to research, monitor, and improve the drug supply chain along the lines of what CIDRAP has suggested, these are some important considerations for that effort:

This new entity absolutely must incorporate representation of ALL stakeholders across the entire drug supply chain.
Physicians, providers, pharmacists, nurses, hospitals, and yes, even the public (our patients) need to be allowed to contribute, participate, and have influence in this effort. Too often, this issue gets characterized as purely a supply chain issue without full appreciation of the public health and human consequences in the decisions being made.

There needs to be a unified vision for what success looks like and how it will be objectively measured and quantified as well as what data will be essential for that analysis.
It’s the unfortunate reality that most of the data needed to provide the type of insight and transparency required is held tightly within a number of corporate interests, many of which are direct competitors. As another current public health crisis of opioid addiction has demonstrated, not all stakeholders can be trusted to prioritize public health over economic interests. Reconciling the conflict between the financial interests of supply chain stakeholders and our public health interests may very well prove to be the greatest challenge to overcome. If we’re not able to agree on the metrics of success, the data required to perform that analysis with integrity, will run the risk of limiting its impact from the outset. This is usually where someone offers “blockchain” as the miracle solution—I think it will likely be a part of a solution, but there are many other hurdles to overcome even with blockchain.

Upstream supply chain transparency is greatly needed, but we have significant issues with downstream supply chain transparency that need just as much attention.
The CIDRAP report focused most of its attention on the needs and issues of the upstream supply chain with limited time spent on the issues of poor transparency in the downstream supply chain. It is in this maddeningly opaque downstream supply chain world that drug shortage response teams are doing the, at times, impossibly difficult work of making sure patient care isn’t compromised. This is the end of the supply chain where the human cost is realized in both the harm incurred by the public, as well as the pharmacists and health professionals who agonize over mitigating that harm. The causes and impacts of an inadequately transparent downstream supply chain deserve to be explored in greater detail.

Information and Data Still Require Connectivity and Responsiveness for Full Collaboration

Transparency into where drug inventory is, who’s using it, how much is needed, who may be hoarding supply, and how inventory should best be equitably diverted is only part of the solution. Even with all that information and data, we lack the overall connectivity and responsiveness as a national healthcare system to collaborate so patients don’t suffer from our failures. We need to fully acknowledge that, until we start approaching our drug supply chain as a truly interconnected and interdependent system, we will not solve the issue of transparency. I still haven’t decided if the solution proposed of a unique federal entity devoted to many of these issues is the solution, but if we’re going to ever have a chance of making substantive improvements to our nation’s drug supply chain we are going to need transparency and a more aligned mindset through a common commitment to work together across the supply chain.

About the Author:

Nate Peaty PharmD, MS

As a health-system pharmacy leader, Nate has been responsible for advancing complex, inpatient pharmacy operations and support systems through innovation. His commitment to furthering the role of automation in hospital operations and passion for designing better solutions for healthcare professionals led him to co-found OrbitalRX where, as its Chief Product Officer, he currently is responsible for corporate and product strategy, research, innovation partnerships, and customer relationships. In his role at OrbitalRX, Nate is designing a new generation of pharmacy automation solutions that challenge assumptions and power a more sustainable infrastructure for health-system and  drug supply chains.

Juniper Alcorn, PhD

8 Ways Technology is Improving Hospital Drug Shortage Management During COVID-19

8 Ways Technology is Improving Hospital Drug Shortage Management During COVID-19

Blog, COVID-19

Hospitals are under significant pressure. More resources are going toward caring for COVID-19 and other emergent cases while revenue is suffering with the postponement and cancellation of elective procedures. Budgets are strained, forcing hospitals to lay off staff or delay the hiring of new employees even as staff workload increases. Unfortunately, relief isn’t likely to come soon. As states are reopening, most are experiencing surges in positive cases and hospitalizations. A second wave of the novel coronavirus is still anticipated for the fall, right around when flu season will begin picking up steam. It’s potentially a perfect storm that would place further strain on our embattled health-systems. This means hospital pharmacies need to work on improving their drug shortage management strategy.

There are many steps hospitals will need to take if they hope to effectively weather this prolonged period of turmoil and disruption. Perhaps one of the most significant is performing an assessment of those processes considered to be the “status quo” and determining whether complacency is getting in the way of achieving operational improvements. Now is the time to make significant changes that advance healthcare rather than continuing to rely on approaches that are antiquated and inefficient. As Mayo Clinic Chief Executive Officer Gianrico Farrugia, MD, wrote in Fortune, “The pandemic’s disruptive force has spurred transformational change in our organization, as well as in many others. We must actively resist a return to the old way of doing things, maintain the improvements we’ve made, and continue to invest in research and strategic collaborations that will produce a health care system that serves everyone better.”

This mentality should extend to how hospital pharmacies approach their drug shortage management. This is the time to embrace technology as a way to eliminate manual processes, better organize systems, and drive efficiencies. There’s never been a greater need for technology-enabled healthcare to help us better respond to the challenges of today and prepare for what’s looming tomorrow. Drug shortage management efforts have to be faster, smarter, and more efficient to ensure that delivery of care during these demanding times isn’t compromised. Here are 8 ways technology can help hospitals improve their drug shortage management:

Reap the Benefits of Automation

For many hospitals, their entire drug shortage management process is manual. From data collection and analysis to searching for product availability, pharmacy employees spend hours upon hours completing these and other tasks. How would you benefit by eliminating manual processes and then changing your workflow from being reactive to becoming proactive? How would that impact operations and employee satisfaction? The right technology can help you begin to automate drug shortage management workflows. The trickledown benefits will be significant.

Reposition Valuable Resources

The more you rely on your technology to automate once-manual processes and improve staff efficiency with completing remaining manual processes, the less staff you will need to assign to drug shortage management tasks. At a time when staffing is strained, as previously noted, this can be a game-changer. Depending upon your staffing situation, you may be able to reassign team members to other critical pharmacy tasks, return to a more typical schedule that scales pharmacy staffing back closer to pre-pandemic levels, and reduce reliance on overtime. Even before the pandemic, drug shortages were costing U.S. hospitals at least $359 million a year on labor costs, according to a Vizient study.

Improve Efficiency

Improving drug shortage management with technology can greatly increase efficiency and productivity. Eliminated are laborious, time-consuming processes of manual data entry into spreadsheets, records research, and compilation of information, to name a few. Staff can gain instant visibility into medications on hand, locations of medications, speed of usage, trending, and more. The results: tasks are completed faster, decisions are made with greater confidence thanks to supporting data, data entry and compilation errors are greatly reduced, and more opportunities for improvements are identified. Furthermore, an investment in technology that fuels efficiency can enhance staff satisfaction since employees will feel like their time and skills (beyond manual data entry and retrieval) are valued. More satisfied and engaged staff are proven to be more productive and less likely to experience burnout.

Save Money

If you needed to invest in more staff and/or overtime to account for the increased workload associated with responding to COVID-19 demands, drug shortage management technology can help you bring these staffing levels and their expenses under control. Technology can also help you make more proactive medication purchasing decisions, permitting you to maximize savings associated with bulk purchasing, competitive shopping and pricing, avoiding reliance on expensive rushed shipping, and other intelligent buying strategies. Once you invest in the technology, the savings associated with leaner staffing and smarter purchasing accumulates and should quickly cover the cost of the solution.

Situational Awareness

Drug shortage management technology can inform you of potential shortages looming on the horizon, both internal and external. When staff are alerted to decreasing levels of medications in stock, including those involved in caring for COVID-19 patients, they can act to replenish stock and/or begin to execute a response plan to ration medications or pursue alternatives. When staff learn of potential disruptions in the supply of medications, they can take similar actions as well as further engage in discussions with wholesalers and distributors about trends and potential solutions.

Make Decisions Faster

As the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists notes, hospitals were experiencing shortages of key injectable drugs prior to the pandemic. Now, unprecedented demand due to the large numbers of critically ill patients with the novel coronavirus is serving to further worsen shortages in medications such as sedative, analgesics, and paralytics. As surges bring more patients to hospitals, pharmacy staff may find themselves under the gun to make a wide range of decisions in areas including drug allocation, purchasing and rationing. A drug shortage management system can provide the information needed to help staff make faster, data-driven, and educated decisions more likely to achieve their desired results.

Enhance Communication and Mitigation Strategies

Drug shortage technology that includes components focused on supporting communication (e.g., a centralized communications center) can better ensure key stakeholders throughout the health system are current on existing and potentially future challenges. With such knowledge comes improvements in the coordination of effective use and conservation of drugs in short supply. In addition, technology can provide reports to stakeholders on action follow-through and progress made concerning preservation and synchronization efforts.

Sourcing and Procurement Support

Diversity in one’s supply base (i.e., multi-vendor sourcing) is beneficial as it provides a hospital with more options to purchase the medications needed and at more competitive prices. This is proving especially helpful during this time when there is so much disruption to the supply chain and significant developments leading to rapid swings in number of cases and case types. However, communicating and coordinating with and purchasing from multiple vendors is one of the more time-consuming and inefficient tasks pharmacy staff are expected to complete. Drug shortage technology with a procurement center feature can eliminate the need for engaging with multiple vendors by providing a consolidated view of options that streamlines educated decision-making on purchasing.

Adding Drug Shortage Management Technology

If it sounds like your hospital would benefit from drug shortage management technology, consider scheduling a demo of OrbitalRX. It is the only data-unifying platform that proactively manages drug shortages through predictive analysis and real-time situational awareness in a pharmacy-focused workflow. OrbitalRX is a solution that will help you better navigate your hospital through the clinical, operational, and business impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak.

About the Author:

Nate Peaty PharmD, MS

As a health-system pharmacy leader, Nate has been responsible for advancing complex, inpatient pharmacy operations and support systems through innovation. His commitment to furthering the role of automation in hospital operations and passion for designing better solutions for healthcare professionals led him to co-found OrbitalRX where, as its Chief Product Officer, he currently is responsible for corporate and product strategy, research, innovation partnerships, and customer relationships. In his role at OrbitalRX, Nate is designing a new generation of pharmacy automation solutions that challenge assumptions and power a more sustainable infrastructure for health-system and  drug supply chains.

Juniper Alcorn, PhD