Drug shortage preparedness depends on more than knowing that a product is at risk; health systems also need to understand what they have, where it is located, how quickly it is being used, and where it may be needed next.
During a recent End Drug Shortages Alliance webinar, Inventory Transparency as the First Line of Defense Against Shortages, AJ Rivosecchi, PharmD, Director of Product at Bluesight, and Dan Dangler, PharmD, Associate Vice President of Strategic Sourcing at Advocate Health, explored how better inventory visibility can help pharmacy teams move from reacting to shortages to preparing for them.
Here are five key takeaways from the conversation.
1. Inventory transparency creates the foundation for proactive shortage management
Effective shortage mitigation begins with proactive planning. By identifying essential medications, establishing appropriate buffer strategies, qualifying alternative sources, and developing contingency plans in advance, health systems are better positioned to respond quickly and thoughtfully when supply risks emerge.
Systemwide visibility into where medications are located, how much is available, and how quickly inventory is being consumed strengthens that preparation. Pharmacy leaders can assess whether they have days, weeks, or months of supply, identify vulnerabilities across facilities, and determine which mitigation strategies may be most effective.
2. Visibility is only valuable when it leads to action
More data does not automatically create greater resilience. Organizations need processes for translating inventory information into decisions. When a potential shortage emerges, pharmacy teams should be able to use visibility across their system to determine where inventory is concentrated, where demand is greatest, and which locations may be most vulnerable.
That can inform decisions ranging from conservation strategies and alternative sourcing to moving products between facilities. A centralized view can reduce operational burden associated with shortage management.
When combined with predictive intelligence about emerging supply risks, this foundation allows organizations to activate established plans in a targeted and coordinated way – redistributing available inventory, adjusting utilization, or deploying buffer stock as appropriate. This proactive approach supports timely decision-making, reduces the need for broad reactive purchasing, and helps preserve access to essential medications throughout a shortage.
3. Standardization makes system-wide visibility possible
Inventory transparency becomes considerably more complicated as organizations grow. Different facilities may use different workflows, definitions, technology or approaches to inventory management. Without some level of standardization, comparing information across locations (and acting on it consistently) becomes difficult.
Creating common approaches to data and decision-making can give leaders a clearer picture of inventory across the enterprise. That shared foundation becomes especially important when organizations need to coordinate responses or redistribute constrained medications.
The same principle has implications beyond individual health systems. Expanding inventory-sharing approaches across organizations will require participants to develop common expectations for what information is shared and interpreted, and how decisions are made.
4. Collaboration requires moving to a culture of preparation and sharing
Technology may make inventory sharing possible, but culture determines whether it works. One challenge discussed during the webinar was the natural tendency for individual facilities or organizations to protect their own supply. That instinct is understandable: pharmacy leaders are responsible for ensuring their patients have the medications they need. But during widespread disruptions, an exclusively site-by-site approach can limit the ability to use available supply where it is needed most.
Within health systems, leaders can begin addressing that challenge by creating agreed-upon processes for sharing and reallocating inventory. As these models expand beyond individual systems, building trust and demonstrating mutual value will become even more important.
5. Define what success looks like and measure buy-in
Like any standardization or inventory-sharing initiative, transparency efforts should begin with a clear goal. Organizations should determine what they are trying to improve and establish measures that show whether the initiative is achieving that objective. Quantitative measures can help, but participation is also an important indicator of success.
Are some facilities consistently holding onto inventory rather than participating in an agreed-upon sharing strategy? Are locations following established processes? Where is adoption strongest, and where is additional engagement needed?
Those patterns can reveal whether an organization has achieved true system-wide buy-in or whether individual sites are still operating primarily on their own.
Building resilience through visibility
Inventory transparency can give health systems something critically important during a disruption: time and information to make better decisions.
When organizations can see inventory across locations, and combine that visibility with established processes for acting collectively, they are better positioned to protect constrained medications and maintain continuity of care.