Abstract
Background: Medicine shortages are often described in plain numbers, suggesting all shortages have a uniform impact. However, some shortages have a direct and serious effect on patients and need a prompt reaction from stakeholders. This study aims to create a broad framework to assess the impact of a shortage. Method: We identified high impact shortages and selected exemplary shortages which we considered our learning cases. From five learning cases, we identified elements that had a potentially profound impact on one or more of these cases. We tested data saturation on the elements with another five test cases. Based on these elements, we created a framework to assess impact of shortages on patients and presented practical examples how to rate these different elements. Subsequently, we visualised the impact of these five learning cases on patients in radar charts. Results: The five elements which we identified as potentially having a large impact were 1) alternative product, 2) disease, 3) susceptibility, 4) costs and 5) number of patients affected. The five learning cases rated high on different elements, leading to diverse and sometimes even opposite patterns of impact. Conclusion: We created a framework for assessing the impact of a medicine shortage on patients by means of five key elements. By rating these elements, an indication of the impact can be obtained.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 1366 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-12 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | BMC Health Services Research |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 17 Nov 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported by the Dutch Medicines Evaluation Board (MEB) and the Royal Dutch Pharmacists Association (KNMP). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Funding Information:
The authors wish to thank the Dutch Medicines Evaluation Board, the Dutch Health and Youth Care Inspectorate and the Royal Dutch Pharmacists for supplying their data. The views expressed in this article are the personal views of the authors and must not be understood or quoted as being made on behalf of or reflecting the position of the Dutch Medicines Evaluation Board or the Royal Dutch Pharmacists Association.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
Funding
This work was supported by the Dutch Medicines Evaluation Board (MEB) and the Royal Dutch Pharmacists Association (KNMP). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The authors wish to thank the Dutch Medicines Evaluation Board, the Dutch Health and Youth Care Inspectorate and the Royal Dutch Pharmacists for supplying their data. The views expressed in this article are the personal views of the authors and must not be understood or quoted as being made on behalf of or reflecting the position of the Dutch Medicines Evaluation Board or the Royal Dutch Pharmacists Association.
Keywords
- Framework
- Impact
- Medicine shortages
