October 13, 2022 – The Healthcare Supply Chain Association (HSCA), which represents the nation’s leading healthcare group purchasing organizations (GPOs), today announced 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 healthcare’s more pressing and enduring issues, drug shortages that disrupt patient care.
GPOs have taken a number of innovative steps to combat drug and product shortages, including:
- Tracking global supply data on shortages and raw materials to identify potential supply chain disruptions
- Evaluating manufacturer reliability when sourcing and awarding contracts to lessen exposure to shortages
- Identifying additional manufacturers and sources of at-risk products and helping bring them to market and
- Assessing operationally and clinically safe conservation strategies and alternatives for providers.
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.