Drug Shortages Pose Problems for P&T Committees in Accountable Care Organizations

For more than a decade, drug short¬ages have made headlines. Shortages also have forced P&T committees in many hospitals and health care delivery organizations to make contingency plans for providing safe and effective therapies when conventional and preferred drugs are not available. An article published in P&T in 2011 described several concerns associated with drug shortages and substitutions, including safety risks, cost implications, and the domino effect that shortages can have when the inability to acquire one agent leads to unexpected demand for another.

The passage of health care reform legislation