Image by Stefan Schweihofer from PixabayHurricane Helene flooded a factory that produced 60% of the intravenous (IV) solutions used in the United States, causing a dramatic shortage.
The Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA) is now calling on the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to declare a shortage of sterile IV solutions to allow waivers to permit certain flexibilities not otherwise available to health care providers.
Baxter International, the company that operates the Marion, North Carolina-based factory, has implemented limits on the number of IV solutions its customers can order and has not released details about when the factory will reopen.
“Ambulatory surgery centers might not realize the shortage until they try to place an order and are told they’re on allocation, only receiving a portion of what they need,” Jeffrey Flynn, president of New York State Association for Ambulatory Surgery Centers (NYSAASC), told ASC News. “This [crisis] highlights the need for better communication and information sharing because this crisis will last a while, especially since that particular plant was destroyed.”
Flynn is also the senior vice president of The Gramercy Group, which operates two ambulatory surgery centers in New York.
“This shortage is critical, and some hospitals upstate have already stopped performing elective cases to conserve IV fluids for acute cases,” Flynn said. “One thing I feel positive about, especially in Western New York, is that they are handling it well and keeping the ASCs in the loop.”
The ongoing shortage could force ASCs to temporarily close, or cause delays or cancellations of procedures, especially preventative care.
“One of the critical services ASCs provide is colonoscopies, which allow for screening and prevention of colon cancer,” ASCA wrote. “ASCs in the United States annually perform approximately 1.3 million colonoscopies on fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries alone.”
Many of the 6,300 Medicare-certified ASCs in the country are already reporting IV fluid shortages, ASCA wrote.
“These shortages will only be exacerbated in the coming days and weeks as facilities run out of supplies that were already on hand when Hurricane Helene struck,” ASCA wrote. “For our surgery centers to continue to care for our patients, we must have access to sterile IV fluids.”
And small ASCs will be hit the hardest, since they lack the purchasing power of a hospital or a large health system.
“We fear that the IV fluid shortages will only drive up costs,” the organization wrote.
