[Ed Groleau]

Reply To: Central Pharmacy Benchmark

Central pharmacies are very common with oncology networks having been used for decades. They will store and ship anything that would be sent to the clinical site. I have never had one ship direct to patient but they ship to all of the sites in the network. Clinical operations should include their distribution process as part of the site audit. If their process and documentation is acceptable I do not recommend duplication of record keeping.

There are other issues to work through though. For planning & forecasting how many actual clinical sites does that central pharmacy represent? How much inventory should be maintained at that location to ensure sufficient inventory is available at all times?

Setting up the “site” in the IXRS is another issue. The central pharmacy will be the shipping destination for multiple clinical sites. The satellite sites will coordinate with the central pharmacy on processing a patient visit and dispensing drug. Make sure the IXRS you select can handle the situation.