The availability of medicines remains a major challenge within the European healthcare sector. Yet there are many misconceptions about the causes, responsibilities and possible solutions. These misconceptions not only create confusion, but can also lead to wrong decisions within hospitals, pharmacies and healthcare institutions.
In this blog, we highlight the four most common misconceptions and explain what is really happening in the medicines supply chain.
This is a common misconception, but far from the truth.
Although good stock management is important, most shortages arise much earlier in the chain.
Think of:
Pharmacies and hospitals are often only confronted with the consequences as the last link in the chain. The shortage is rarely due to their own planning; the cause is usually found in production, distribution or market dynamics.
Europe may have a single market, but certainly not a single, uniform level of access to medicines. Factors that differ strongly per country include:
As a result, a medicine may be widely available in one country, while it is hardly accessible in another. This is precisely why international sourcing plays such a crucial role.
A product may officially be labelled as “not available”, but that does not always mean there are no solutions.
Possible alternatives include:
At Orphamed, we see every day that there is often more possible than healthcare institutions themselves can oversee. Not available is not the same as not accessible.
Although the exact timing of shortages is difficult to determine, they are indeed partly predictable.
Signals such as:
often provide a clear indication of upcoming issues.
With proper monitoring, close cooperation with suppliers and insight into international markets, healthcare institutions can foresee many shortages and prepare for them.
Would you like more insight into medicine availability or support with hard-to-obtain medicines?
Feel free to contact us at orders@orphamed.nl.
