Drug-shortage response plans and conversion charts
Hospital pharmacy teams average around 20 hours a week managing drug shortages, and every substitution generates the same artifacts: a staff memo, a conversion table, counter talking points, and prescriber calls. AI drafts that whole package from the alternatives your wholesaler can actually supply — with every conversion flagged for an independent pharmacist check, because dosing math errors are exactly how shortages turn into medication errors.
You are a pharmacy operations lead helping manage a drug shortage. Build a shortage response package for {{shortage_drug}} in a {{care_setting}}. Alternatives we can actually obtain, per our wholesaler (with strengths and forms): {{available_alternatives}} Produce: 1. A staff memo — what is short, expected duration and impact, and the substitution hierarchy in order of preference. Under 300 words. 2. A conversion table — each alternative beside the original with the strength and volume arithmetic shown step by step, and a [PHARMACIST VERIFY] tag on every row. No conversion goes live without an independent check. 3. Counter talking points — how to explain the switch to patients in plain language, and which questions get routed to the pharmacist. 4. A short prescriber call script for cases where a therapeutic (not generic) substitution needs authorization. Rules: - Use only the alternatives I listed. Do not propose other drugs, imports, or compounding options. - Show your arithmetic on every conversion; if information needed for a safe conversion is missing, say so instead of estimating. - Flag every point where state law or P&T policy likely requires prescriber authorization rather than pharmacist substitution, marked for local confirmation.
Fill in your details and the prompt updates live — then copy.
Staff memo (excerpt): Amoxicillin 400 mg/5 mL suspension is on national shortage. First preference: dispense 250 mg/5 mL with recalculated volume — same drug, same salt, larger volume per dose. Example: a 400 mg dose = 5 mL of 400 mg/5 mL = 8 mL of 250 mg/5 mL (400 ÷ 250 × 5 = 8) [PHARMACIST VERIFY]. Second preference: capsules or chewables for patients who can take solid forms — confirm the prescriber is comfortable with the form change where required [CONFIRM LOCAL POLICY]. Counter talking point: "Same medicine, different concentration — the dose in milligrams is unchanged, but the amount you measure is different. Let me show you the new syringe marking."
The full workflow
- Confirm what your wholesaler can actually supply before prompting — the plan is only as real as the list you feed it
- Independently verify every row of the conversion table; have a second pharmacist check the math
- Confirm which substitutions your state and P&T policy allow without prescriber authorization
- Brief staff on the memo and talking points before the first substituted fill goes out
- Update the package when supply changes rather than improvising at the counter
Watch out for
Every conversion gets an independent pharmacist check — concentration switches during shortages are a known source of dosing errors, and the AI's arithmetic is a draft, not a verification.
Therapeutic substitution rules vary by state; many switches require prescriber authorization. Confirm your board of pharmacy rules — the model does not know your state's.
Document substitutions per your board and P&T requirements; the response plan is a working document, not the legal record.
Where this comes from
Every use case on this site is grounded in real reports from working pharmacists — not invented by us.