Comparing Drug Shortages Experienced by Institutions With National Metrics

Drug shortages have steadily increased, in both volume and management complexity, for decades. In turn, this trend has resulted in significant challenges for healthcare staff and patients. Each drug shortage has its own set of variables that determine supply distribution, mitigation strategy, healthcare system strain, and patient impact. The catalyst for the aforementioned chain reaction is a drug shortage's root cause - which is often unknown. The degree of transparency of this root cause can be correlated with a health system's ability to effectively manage a drug shortage.