Bar Code Readiness
White Paper: Unit Dose vs Bulk Oral Solid Medication Purchasing Patterns and Repackaging: Sampling and Analysis
In 2009, independent consulting firm Shack & Tulloch, Inc., conducted a survey of 24 hospitals to ascertain purchasing patterns and rationales pertaining to pre-packaged unit dose oral solid and bulk oral solid medications.
By far, the single most surprising finding was the purchase level of pre-packaged unit dose solids overall. While levels were expected to be reasonably high, the survey showed that at 21 of the 24 hospitals, manufacturer-packaged unit dose medications make up an average of 81% of all oral solid purchases. In addition, the 14 of 21 hospitals that were consciously maximizing their purchases of manufacturer packaged unit dose medications were purchasing an average of 88% of their oral solid medications in that form. The remaining three hospitals represented unusual cases where purchasing decisions fall outside the norm based on specifics of the pharmacy operations.
The high levels of manufacturer-packaged unit dose purchases were especially unexpected since specific medications from any given manufacturer may or may not be available in pre-packaged form at any given time. This uncertainty was previously thought to have a possible dampening effect on unit dose purchasing, but the survey results suggest this is hardly the case.
Instead, it may be that the drive toward bedside bar code scanning may be trumping most if not all objections to pre-packaged unit dose.