2356. Standardizing a centralized allocation process for rarely used anti-infective medications across a health system


 
 
 Obtaining scarce antimicrobials used to treat infrequently encountered infections such as malaria have posed a challenge to clinicians and health systems. Due to the rare occurrence of these infections, maintaining adequate, readily available supply for emergent need is challenging, and a lack of clear procurement processes from regional storage sites may contribute to delays in care. In March 2021, artesunate became commercially available for the treatment of severe malaria, a disease for which prompt initiation of therapy is paramount. To improve access to this and other critical but seldom used medications, a centralized storage and allocation process was established throughout our 10-hospital health system. We aim to describe the structure of this program which may serve as a model for other institutions to expedite and streamline access to these lifesaving therapies.
 Tracking document for therapy supply management.
 
 
 
 In May 2021, a centralized process was created to track and store rare anti-infective medications for uncommon infections, including those caused by tropical, parasitic, and mycobacterial pathogens (Table 1). Supply is monitored and maintained by clinical pharmacists monthly to ensure adequate courses are available. When needed for a specific patient, infectious diseases physicians and pharmacists recommend therapy which triggers a request to the central pharmacy.
 
 
 
 Medications are stored at our large academic medical center (AMC), which manages these cases more routinely compared to other sites. Community hospitals within the health system are able to contact the AMC for prompt distribution of these medications when needed. Since its inception, we have deployed rare use anti-infective medications to partner facilities twice for severe malaria cases, which resulted in expedited receipt of therapy for critically ill patients. The time from therapy recommendation to medication administration was reduced from 12–24 hours to 2–6 hours.
 
 
 
 This centralized rare anti-infective medication process expedites and streamlines access for critical therapeutic agents to ensure they are readily available when needed by limiting procurement/storage concerns. This model may be used as a framework for other medications for which timely administration, but rare use, is critical to patient care.
 
 
 
 All Authors: No reported disclosures.
