The Pharmaceutical Industry and Health Professional Services - Essay Example

            In health care, communication is multidirectional and a local hospital has to effectively connect with consumers, employees, and suppliers so that optimum levels of confidence and goodwill are maintained (Berkowitz 357-358). With regard to the supplier, a five-point strategy of communication can work out well:

• Prior study of all available corporate information about the supplier, so that redundancy of topics can be avoided during telephonic communication and/or email correspondence.
• Maximum use of Internet communication, particularly through technologies like email and Internet Protocol or IP telephony.
• Ample soft skills must be applied to avoid unnecessary complications.
• Goodwill is important in inter-organizational relationships. Nevertheless, compliance issues and risk management concerns must be conveyed in a straightforward manner.
• Cross-check the information furnished by the company and do communicate the flaws or points of doubt, if any. For example, if the supplier claims that it has Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) drug establishment registration, then its DUNS Number must be verified independently (for details, refer to the website of Registrar Corp).

Plan for Asking Questions

            Tentative outline of questions, which are to be asked to Get Well Drugs with regard to the necessities of Well Being Hospital.

            According to the US Food and Drug Administration (hereinafter FDA), a pharmaceutical company must:

• Follow Good Manufacturing Practice or GMP guidance
• Abide by the FDA compliance policies as set by Pharmaceutical Inspectorate
• Adhere to the International Conference of Harmonization (ICH) documents

Last but not least, the supplier must not overlook the “need for ongoing innovation in manufacturing” (FDA 6).

            So some of the key questions can be framed as the following:

1. What do Get Well Drugs to do to assure that it follows GMP standards?
2. Has the company been ever served with a warning letter by the FDA?
3. Is the company authorized by the FDA for manufacturing and selling drugs in all the categories such as mental, behavioral, and general services?
4. If the Get Well Drugs has ever been given any warning letter, what did the company do to follow FDA’s compliance policies more sincerely?
5. Does the company have a drug establishment registration?
6. What is the company’s DUNS number?

Communication to the Local Consortium of Nurses and Physicians

            Pharmacological understanding of medicines is always very helpful along with the market statistics like price, popularity among clinicians, etc. (Stringer). According to Blancett and Flarey (152):

 “Organizations committed to an effective communication strategy as part of work reengineering are urged to initiate new types of communication strategies that provide optimal two-way communication opportunities.”

            The internal communication with staffs at Well Being Hospital can take place in three stages:

1. Each and every staff member (the doctors and nurses) are asked to open dedicated email accounts for hospital use. These account IDs are fed to the hospital database.
2. Next, emails regarding the consignment to Get Well Drugs are sent to the staff. Critical data can be furnished in an easy-to-understand tabular form as tentatively shown in Table – 1:

Table -1: Information on Drug Acquisition from getting Well Drugs

Mental

Behavioral

General Sevices

Cost

Oleanz: $10 per strip

Adaptol: $12 per strip

Asacol: $15 per strip

Paracetamol: $7 per strip

Type

Oleanz: sedative

Adaptol: anxiolytic

Asacol: intended for use in ulcer of the colon

Paracetamol: anti-pyretic

Physical Properties

Oleanz: Both pills and intravenous solution forms

Adaptol: Pills

Asacol: Pills

Paracetamol: In all pills, syrup, and intravenous solution forms

The table has been creating with the help of Stiner’s book Basic Concepts in Pharmacology

Pros and Cons of Using Get Well Drugs

            The most important factor in the pharmaceutical business is reputation. Get Well Drugs has already made a place for itself in the regional market. Now if they promptly correspond with Well Being Hospital Authorities whenever required, then there is no reason to back down all the deal. A robust regional supplier is a very beneficial partner in the healthcare industry. In the case the hospital runs out of stock, this regional supplier can be contacted immediately to resupply the essential medicines at the soonest.

            Nevertheless, care must be taken on how the organization reacts once the hospital hands it over its queries and concerns. A major problem with the company till now is that it has not voluntarily shown its registration details to us. Also, we still do not know its official details like the DUNS number. Therefore, more investigations are needed before the deal can be actually struck and regular supplies are started.