Can state-managed help address rising threats to patient care from drug shortages and other events?
Impacts from recent drug shortages combined with other public health emergencies have led to renewed attention on long-standing concerns surrounding the impacts of supply chain disruptions on patient care.
State-managed medication stockpiles—also referred to as pharmaceutical reserves or caches—are strategic reserves of medications controlled by state authorities. Potential strategy states are increasingly exploring to address gaps in existing preparedness frameworks that currently fail to address supply-driven drug shortages.
With funding provided by the Cencora Impact Foundation, Healthcare Ready conducted a landscape review of state-managed medication stockpiles through publicly available resources and discussions held with representatives from public health, emergency management, public safety; and private sector stakeholders (e.g., hospital associations, healthcare supply chain stakeholders, health systems). Results of that research are presented in this white paper, which introduces several key drivers and barriers for states to develop or maintain medication stockpiles, planning considerations for state public health departments interested in stockpiling, and an overview of recent or current federal policies that are related to state-managed stockpiles.
