Medical Readiness: DOD Can Improve Management of Dated Drug Items Held as War Reserves
Abstract
DOD's recent focus on medical readiness has increased attention on dated medical items that need to be prepositioned for use in the event of hostilities. If the services were to comply with DOD's go-day supply policy, we estimate that, by the mid-1990s, without an ambitious program to implement cost-reduction proposals, over $110 million worth of items annually will have to be replaced because their shelf lives will have expired. A number of proposals have been made to reduce the replacement costs of these items, but DOD's progress in implementing these proposals has been limited. Despite the upcoming growth in stocking and replacing dated PWR medical items and the apparent savings available by reducing the replacement rate and increasing the utilization rate, DOD has formulated no plan to ensure evaluation and implementation of the proposals bin a timely manner. Unless it develops and implements such a plan, progress will continue to be limited. Accordingly, we recommend that you direct that a plan of action be established to reduce the replacement costs of dated PWR medical items.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1987
- Accession Number
- AD1171569
Entities
People
- Frank C. Conahan
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office