OR Manager August 2022 - 3

Editorial
www.ormanager.com
SENIOR EDITOR
Tarsilla Moura * 301-354-1786 * tmoura@accessintel.com
CLINICAL EDITOR
Judith M. Mathias, MA, RN * jmathias@accessintel.com
CONSULTING EDITOR
Jane Kuhn, MSN, RN, CNOR, NEA-BC * jkuhn@accessintel.com
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Brita Belli
Cynthia Saver, MS, RN
Jennifer Lubell
NURSE EDUCATORS
Cindy Kildgore, MSHA, BSN, RN, CNOR, OR Manager
Conference * ckildgore@accessintel.com
Amy Bethel, MPA, RN, NE-BC, OR Business Management
Conference * abethel@accessintel.com
BRAND DIRECTOR
Liza Wylie * 301-354-1512 * lwylie@accessintel.com
VP GROUP BRAND DIRECTOR, HEALTHCARE
Lindsey Fuller * 301-354-1778 * lfuller@accessintel.com
DIRECTOR, MARKETING PRODUCTION
Tracey Lilly * tlilly@accessintel.com
SENIOR PRODUCTION MANAGER
Joann M. Fato * 301-354-1681* jfato@accessintel.com
ADVERTISING
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
David Brumbach * 301-354-1774 *
dbrumbach@accessintel.com
SALES REPRESENTATIVE, OR MANAGER CONFERENCE
OR BUSINESS MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE
Nancy Iannotta * 203-899-8429 *
niannotta@accessintel.com
CONTENT LICENSING
For all content licensing, permissions, reprints,
or e-prints, please contact Wright's Media
accessintel@wrightsmedia.com * 877-652-5295
LIST RENTALS
MeritDirect
Danielle Zaborski
(914) 368-1090 * dzaborski@meritdirect.com
Vol. 38, No. 8 August 2022 * OR Manager (ISSN 8756-8047)
is published monthly, except for a combined November/
December issue, by Access Intelligence, LLC. 9211 Corporate
Blvd., 4th Floor Rockville, MD 20850-3245 Periodicals
postage paid at Rockville, MD and additional post offices.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to OR Manager, 9211
Corporate Blvd., 4th Floor, Rockville, MD 20850-3245.
Gold subscription (includes digital issue and daily electronic
bulletin) rate: $229. Platinum subscription (includes print
and digital issue and weekly electronic bulletin) rate: $249
(plus $10 shipping for domestic and Canadian; $20 shipping
for foreign). Single issues: $39. For subscription inquiries or
change of address, contact Client Services, clientservices@
accessintel.com. Tel: 888-707-5814, Fax: 301-309-3847.
©2022 Access Intelligence, LLC. Federal copyright law prohibits
unauthorized reproduction by any means and imposes
fines up to $150,000 for violations.
OR Manager is indexed in the Cumulative Index to Nursing
and Allied Health Literature and MEDLINE/PubMed.
Access Intelligence, LLC
President & CEO
Don Pazour
Chief Operating Officer
Heather Farley
Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
John B. Sutton
Chief People Officer
Macy L. Fecto
Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer
Rob Paciorek
Senior Vice President, Event Operations
Lori Jenks
Vice President, Digital
Jonathan Ray
VP, Production, Digital Media & Design
Michael Kraus
Senior Director, Financial Planning & Analysis
Tina Garrity
Corporate Controller
Daniel J. Meyer
9211 Corporate Blvd., Fourth Floor
Rockville, MD 20850-3245
www.accessintel.com
W
ith inflation hitting yet another
record-breaking high-9.1%
at the time of publication-
hospitals and health systems continue
to contend with challenging supply
chain disruptions that force leaders into
a constant state of putting out fires.
Supply chain issues are not new. But
instead of having time to plan ahead
and implement sustainable solutions,
leaders find themselves always having
to devote their energy towards solving
the next problem. Currently, drug shortages
are an immediate concern.
The July issue of OR Manager covered
the unprecedent shortage of iodinated
contrast media and the ripple
effect it had on providers, associations,
and policy makers. Unfortunately, that
was just one example of the supply of
essential medication drying out.
Understanding the evolving
problem
" Drug shortages have been a persistent
problem in the US, " Valerie Jensen,
USPHS (Ret), associate director, CDER
Drug Shortage Staff, at the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA), said during
the July 14 Becker's Healthcare webinar,
titled " Strengthening the healthcare
supply chain in a post-pandemic world. "
Challenges to do with shortages
were amplified with the pandemic, Jansen
added, noting that " communication
with industry and other stakeholders
has been key " in addressing these challenges.
" One
of the things we're learning is
there's a real direct link between healthcare
security, national security, and the
market circuit, " said Jonathan Kimball,
vice president of trade, international
affairs, and strategic initiatives at the
Association for Accessible Medicines,
during the same Becker's webinar.
The pandemic caused supply chains
across the global economy to be upended.
" Governments responded to
that in a number of ways, " Kimball said.
" Some of them implemented export
controls and increased calls for local
investment to respond to concerns that
www.ormanager.com
the global supply chain was vulnerable
to disruption. We saw this especially in
the pharmaceutical market. "
According to Kimball, policy makers
predicted massive shortages for key
medicines, " and that did happen. " A
big reason for these shortages is an
" erosion " of the price of essential medicines
because of what key players are
willing to pay for them, he added.
Beverly K. Philip, MD, FACA, FASA,
immediate past president of the American
Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA),
agrees that economics is a big factor in
these disruptions. " For the most part,
these are inexpensive drugs, " she says
during an interview with OR Manager.
" There's very little profit in them, so
it's hard to invest in the technology and
in the manufacturing to get them, not
only in the US but in the international
supply chain for most of our active ingredients. "
When
the ingredients do arrive from
China or India, she explains, " we have
to put them together into finished products.
Because of these economic problems,
companies are being asked to
charge as little as possible by hospitals
that are strained economically. "
The pharmaceutical supply
shortage
" There is currently a serious problem
with drug shortages in anesthesiology, "
says Dr Philip. " This impacts the
entirety of anesthesiology practice. In
terms of the OR, for general anesthesia,
there are two major drugs in shortage
repeatedly: propofol and ketamine. "
Outside the OR, the shortage is
more apparent. " Sedation drugs are in
short order, " she adds. " We're short of
drugs for laboring women, for pain management,
and even in intensive care. "
At the start of the pandemic, patients
were still able to access essential
medication because of the availability
of generic brand options, which
make up 92% of pharmaceutical prescriptions,
said Kimball during Becker's
webinar. " Policy makers quickly realized
Continued on page 4
OR Manager | August 2022
3
http://www.ormanager.com http://www.accessintel.com http://www.ormanager.com
OR Manager August 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of OR Manager August 2022
