Report: 80% of Hospital Pharmacies Lack Real-Time Supply Chain Visibility

Summary

A Tecsys national survey finds that only 20% of health system pharmacies have full, real-time visibility of medication inventory and demand across care settings. The remaining 80% depend on delayed reports, partial data or manual tracking, which forces reactive decisions, creates inventory imbalances and can delay patient care. The report highlights a preparedness gap: many organisations believe they are ready for disruptions but lack the real-time tools to respond effectively when problems occur.

The article quotes pharmacy leaders who stress that end-to-end transparency across inventory, suppliers and sites is essential to avoid shortages, rush orders and last-minute clinical substitutions. Tecsys argues that consolidating data from disconnected systems into real-time views is critical to moving pharmacies from firefighting to proactive supply management.

Key Points

Only 20% of health system pharmacies reported full, real-time visibility across care settings; 80% rely on delayed or manual methods.
Limited visibility causes inventory to sit unused in some locations while other units face shortages and place rush orders.
Reactive decision-making driven by incomplete data increases the risk of delayed or substituted treatments for patients.
Many organisations have invested in automation and analytics but still run disconnected systems, spreadsheets and manual reconciliations.
Leaders report a preparedness gap: confidence in plans does not match confidence in operational readiness under pressure.
Tecsys recommends end-to-end visibility — knowing stock location, usage rates and demand shifts in real time — to prevent shortages and improve continuity of care.

Context and relevance

This finding matters to supply chain and healthcare professionals because medication availability is a direct patient-safety issue. The gap described in the report mirrors wider industry problems: fragmented systems, poor data quality and slow decision cycles. As hospitals face ongoing shortages, regulatory scrutiny and cost pressures, investing in real-time inventory visibility, better system integration and modern supply platforms is becoming essential for operational resilience.

It also ties into broader trends — data-led healthcare, increased use of analytics and AI for demand forecasting, and the push to consolidate disparate systems to reduce manual reconciliation and error.

Why should I read this?

Short version: if you work in hospital pharmacy, procurement or supply-chain ops, this is your wake-up call. The picture here is blunt — most pharmacies are flying blind. Read it to see the scale of the problem, the patient-care consequences, and why simple spreadsheets and late reports aren’t going to cut it anymore.

Author style

Punchy: this is important and urgent. The article isn’t just industry noise — it flags a direct risk to patient care and operational continuity. Leaders should treat it as a prompt to audit visibility, consolidate systems and prioritise real-time inventory controls now.