Minimizing expenditure while providing top-level care may seem like a far-fetched idea. But, establishing connections within the supply chain can help hospital pharmacies accomplish both of these tasks simultaneously
FREMONT, CA: Hospital pharmacies often face some difficult inventory management challenges such as drug shortages, keeping the right amount of new drugs in store, and cutting costs, which can interrupt their mission to provide cutting-edge care to patients. In order to overcome all these challenges successfully, hospital pharmacies should nail down a reliable inventory management strategy at first.
Having said that, let us explore some actionable strategies for inventory management:
Use Supply Chain Data to Minimize Costs and Improve Care
Minimizing expenditure while providing top-level care may seem like a far-fetched idea. But, establishing connections within the supply chain can help hospital pharmacies accomplish both of these tasks 
simultaneously. Some pharmacies often order the same quantity of inventory as they have in the past, which, in turn, leads them to have excess stock of drugs or a shortage. To get the right amount of drugs, pharmacies need to look into supply chain data within their automated systems.
Take Proactive Measures to Prevent Drug Shortage
Drug shortage can break hospital pharmacies' consistency in providing care to patients, which can harm their reputation. Hence, hospital pharmacies need to be careful about the factors that can cause a shortage, such as a delay in manufacturing, unavailability of raw materials, or a sudden spike in demand. To keep all of these factors in check, it is essential to establish proactive communication strategies with every person involved in the drug supply chain. Letting the distributors and manufacturers know about the drug demands and asking them to inform if any of the on-demand medicines become unavailable, can help hospital pharmacies prevent drug shortage.
Plan Carefully to Carry New Drugs
Besides managing existing drugs, hospital pharmacies need to find out how to carry new medicines as they hit the market. Pharmacies should be mindful of their expenditure while busying high-priced new drugs for excess stocking of them may exhaust the budget. In such scenarios, leaders should take some insights from their colleagues and other leaders in the pharmacy industry to chalk out a perfect plan.
