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Specialty Pharmacyy Continuum • September/October 2020
POLICY
COVID-19 Lessons continued from page 1
quality and outcomes for the Health Alliance Plan, a nonprofit plan based in Michigan. Many areas within health care systems struggled with the unexpected during the pandemic surge this spring; all can be looked at as opportunities for improvement going forward, said Dr. Watson, who also is an attending staff hospitalist at Henry Ford Medical Group, in Michigan.
Hospitals had a lot of extended delays for COVID-19 test results in the beginning of the pandemic. As a result, they had to act in a manner that presumed patients were positive and use personal protective equipment, and it was difficult to group infected and noninfected patients because it was unclear who was who, he said. There also were issues with shortages of specialized providers
needed to manage patients. At Henry Ford, the graduate medical education director repurposed all training staff to care for COVID-19, which demonstrated that health systems can be nimble. “As payors, we have to be very supportive of our health systems that are trying to react very quickly in these situations,” Dr. Watson said. Hospitals also faced shortages of certain equipment, such as ventilators and infrared thermometers. “These are things all facilities are now rethinking, and as health plans, we will have to partner with
I N T R O DUC ING ™ ™ F UN G I T E L L STAT FU NG
our facilities to make sure they have the resources they need to take care of our membership,” Dr. Watson said. In addition, health systems have been working to try to stay financially viable, he said, continuing to provide needed care and working to make sure staff were paid and deployed properly. Many had to make changes in their lines of credit or apply for government or other loans. Some hospital groups have since started working together to pool supplies and ensure they have enough inventory on hand for the next epidemic, including adequate supplies of low-cost generic medications (sidebar). The pandemic opened discussions
Civica Rx Takes A Seat at Drug Supply Chain Table
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A Single Sample Format (1J3)-`-D-Glucan Detection Assay For Rapid Invasive Fungal Infection (IFI) Screening. Fungitell STAT™ is the first and only single sample format FDA-cleared and CE marked rapid in vitro diagnostic screening test for IFI (including Candida, Aspergillus and Pneumocystis) that detects (1J3)- ` - D -Glucan in serum.
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ivica Rx has earned a key role in a new federally funded public–private partnership to maintain adequate supplies of essential medications during pandemics and other future public health emergencies. The collaboration was announced soon after the company relieved critical shortages of generic sterile injectables for more than 1,200 member hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic’s crushing first wave. At the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), teams are involving Civica Rx in their build of “a 100% U.S.-owned and operated, endto-end domestic drug manufacturing infrastructure to secure essential sterile injectable drugs and prevent future shortages of these vital medicines,” said Martin VanTrieste, RPh, the president and CEO of the nonprofit company. Already, Civica Rx has provided 1.6 million doses of critical medicines to the Strategic National Stockpile for the COVID-19 response. The neuromuscular blocking agents, pain relievers and sedatives for intubation, broad-spectrum antibiotics for secondary infections, and other drugs to treat comorbidities were supplied in partnership with the Phlow Corporation, in Richmond, Va. Civica Rx’s role will be to make the finished dosage forms of essential medications, including vials and syringes, using its established network of manufacturing partners. Civica Rx also will build its own finished dosage-form
