Abstract

Drug shortages frequently and persistently affect healthcare institutions, posing formidable financial, logistical, and ethical challenges. Despite plentiful evidence characterizing the impact of drug shortages, there is a remarkable dearth of data describing current shortage management practices. Hospitals within the same state or region may not only take different approaches to shortages but may be unaware of shortages proximate facilities are facing. Our goal is to explore how hospitals in Michigan handle drug shortages to assess potential need for comprehensive drug shortage management resources. We conducted semi-structured interviews with diverse stakeholders throughout the state to describe experiences managing drug shortages, approaches to recent shortages, openness to inter-institutional engagement, ideas for a shared resource, and potential obstacles to implementation. To solicit additional feedback on ideas for a shared resource gathered from the interviews, we held focus groups with pharmacists, physicians, ethicists, and community representatives. Among participants representing a heterogeneous sample of institutions, three themes were consistent: (1) numerous drug shortage strategies occurring simultaneously; (2) inadequate resources and lead time to proactively manage shortages; and (3) interest in, but varied attitudes toward, a collaborative approach. These data provide insight to help develop and test a shared drug shortage management resource for enhancing fair allocation of scarce drugs. A shared resource may help institutions adopt accepted best practices and more efficiently access or share finite resources in times of shortage.

MeSH

Pharmaceutical Preparations

Cited by

• The Effect of an Iodinated Contrast Material Shortage on Ordering Patterns in the Emergency Department. Cureus, 2023
• Addressing Drug Shortages at Mediclinic Parkview Hospital: A ‎Five-Year Study of ‎Challenges, Impact, and Strategies. Cureus, 2025
• Medicine Shortages: An Algorithm for Evaluating the Substitution with Equivalent or Alternative Products. Healthcare (Basel), 2025
• Chemotherapeutic Shortages: How Do We Prioritize? J Natl Compr Canc Netw, 2022
• Promotion of Knowledge and Trust Surrounding Scarce Resource Allocation Policies: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Health Forum, 2024
• Examining Pricing and Availability for Neglected Tropical Disease Therapies in the United States. Open Forum Infect Dis, 2025
• A Qualitative Study Exploring the Management of Medicine Shortages in the Community Pharmacy of Pakistan. Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2021
• Hospital pharmacy acquisition of nonstocked antimicrobials-current processes and areas for improvement. J Am Pharm Assoc (2003), 2022
• Adherence to treatment and harmful effects of medication shortages in the context of severe crises: scale validation and correlates. J Pharm Policy Pract, 2023
• Perceptions, attitudes and experiences of hospital pharmacists working in the private sector regarding drug shortage in Lebanon: a national cross-sectional study. J Pharm Policy Pract, 2025