the United States has seen a
50% increase in natural disasters.
Having a comprehensive disaster plan within your distribution channel is vital in ensuring continuity of care and access to drugs and supplies.
How you can prepare your health system?
Here are five essential steps for success:
1980s
COVID-19 Pandemic Preparedness and Actions
Demand for products during the COVID-19 pandemic is between 3 and 10x higher. McKesson has taken several steps to meet this unprecedented need, including:
Assembling a Critical Care Drug Task Force (CCDTF) made up of our procurement specialists and clinical health systems pharmacists to review governmental and scientific guidelines and protocols as they are released to forecast changing pharmaceutical demand.
Leveraging our Senior Leadership team and CCDTF to predict, allocate and build in attempts to extend supply availability and get you what you need.
Buying at proportionate or even higher levels to meet increased demand; however, unfortunate realities of supply constraints are challenging our ability to match 3–10x historical demand.
Prioritizing patients in the hospital and health system setting, particularly in “hot zone” areas, as we channel critical product inventory into our regional distribution centers.
Leveraging our allocation and sequestration capabilities in our strategic sourcing centers to help get products to the right place at the right time.
Facilitating 24/7 emergency triage response service as well as a responsive process to evaluate and increase allocations for you in these dynamic times.
Actively assessing legitimate controlled substance needs during this period and adjusting thresholds, where approved by our regulatory affairs team, to meet the surge in demand for these products. Exercising our business continuity plans to ensure backup distribution in the unlikely event that your local DC is unable to provide service.
Incorporating recommendations to procure alternative agents if first-line therapies become unavailable (our sources include the American Society of Health-System Pharmacy (ASHP) treatment guidelines, daily COVID-19 digests, recommendations from the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine and protocols shared by our customers).
How McKesson is allocating inventory for health systems:
We have made sure to procure and protect inventory for our health system customers’ patients and prioritized those within hot zones when possible. We are actively monitoring the number of documented COVID-19 cases across the country and work across our pharmaceutical distribution network to ensure a balanced supply chain with a focus on where medications were and are needed most.
Our Critical Care Drug Task Force has actively worked with our Regulatory Affairs teams to help meet the increased needs for controlled substances due to COVID-19. The Controlled Substance Monitoring Program requires interaction between McKesson, the DEA and our manufacturer partners. McKesson’s Regulatory Affairs team is actively engaged in assessing the controlled substances needs during this crisis and where we can, we will adjust thresholds to meet the surge demands of these critically ill patients.
Since the early
50%
Make sure pharmacists have a seat at the planning table
Step 1
Step 2
Collaborate and communicate with drug wholesalers
Step 3
Map out emergency Rx orders ahead of time
Step 4
Include decision makers on your crisis and recovery teams
Step 5
Plan for drills, and drill the plans
50%
Since pharmacists have a deep and broad understanding of the types and volumes of supplies that particular disasters require — as well as valuable insights into emergency storage and staffing issues — any disaster preparedness discussions should include pharmacy staff.
Make sure pharmacists have a seat at the planning table
Before, during and after a crisis, healthy collaboration and communication with drug wholesalers can help health systems prepare for the worst and adapt their disaster plans to reflect real-world, real-time supply chain challenges.
Collaborate and communicate with drug wholesalers
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Pharmacy leaders should create templated disaster orders with all the essential medications and supplies to stock up in advance of a natural disaster or to restock after an unplanned emergency. It’s important to let wholesalers know as soon as possible when a disaster order will be coming their way. Depending on the size of the order, deliveries may be made over multiple days.
Map out emergency Rx orders ahead of time
Step 4
Since no two disasters are exactly alike, having boots on the ground at every stage of the event is incredibly important — not just frontline staff, but pharmacy leadership, too. Health systems need people on the scene who are authorized to make decisions quickly and adapt as the situation evolves.
Include decision makers on your crisis and recovery teams
Step 5
Familiarizing team members with the plan can be accomplished in many ways — from verbal walk-throughs during tabletop drills to full-scale disaster exercises involving the entire hospital or health system. These drills help to increase the staff’s comfort level with the process. They also reveal gaps and issues to be addressed.
Plan for drills, and drill the plans
How McKesson is proactive with our Controlled Substance Monitoring Program:
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Even under the best of circumstances, health systems must conquer complex supply chain challenges to provide essential drugs and medical products across the continuum of care. When added complications arise due to global drug shortages, regional disasters, pandemics or mass casualty events, the true costs
of sacrificing premium distribution services in the name of low pricing can become even more pronounced. By comparing distributors in terms of total value delivered — rather than by costs alone — healthcare organizations can make more informed decisions to benefit both business performance and patient care.
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Download the full white paper to learn more
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