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Originally posted on April 05, 2018

Updated August 2, 2021 

While the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to medication shortages, the FDA acknowledges that drug shortages can occur almost any time, due to factors such as manufacturing delays, quality issues, or discontinuations. In fact, the FDA now offers a Drug Shortages Mobile App to receive notifications within selected therapeutic categories.

As a result of pandemic-related shortages, some hospitals and health systems have opted to establish a combination of in-house and outsourced unit-dose drug repackaging to ensure supply availability and to keep costs in check. Regardless of which approach a facility chooses, cross-contamination remains a vitally important consideration for every hospital's unit-dose repackaging strategy.

Unit-dose repackaging is here to stay. Whether your hospital or health system pharmacy packages in-house or outsources with a unit-dose repackaging company, there are always questions about how to best manage or streamline the process. With that in mind, Safecor Health has compiled the 10 most frequently asked questions our team receives about how to maximize efficiency, safety and costs with unit-dose repackaging.

Highlights about Our Time at the Event

In case you missed it, the HCP Spring 2018 Hospital Pharmacy Conference kicked off in Atlanta, GA last week – April 30 – May 2, 2018. Our Safecor Health team participated in the Reverse EXPO and accredited educational sessions. Hearing from other hospital pharmacy directors provided valuable insight on trending topics and challenges in the industry.

For many hospitals, in-house repackaging often seems like the most cost-effective way to package drugs into unit-dose. Unfortunately, with limited resources, hospital pharmacies don’t always have the time needed to focus on packaging. To offset staff time spent on packaging, many pharmacies purchase whatever is available in commercial unit-dose. Unfortunately, many of those unit-dose purchases have a significant cost premium versus bulk bottles.