More than 8 in 10 healthcare providers seeing IV fluids shortage

Two weeks after the closure of a vital plant due to flooding from Hurricane Helene, most of America’s healthcare providers say they’re seeing a shortage of IV fluids.

The vast majority of America's healthcare providers are seeing shortages of IV solutions, according to a new survey by Premier Inc. The shortages are tied to flooding from a key plant in western North Carolina, a region that suffered heavy damage from Hurricane Helene.

More than 8 in 10 healthcare providers (86%) are experiencing shortages of IV fluids, according to a new survey released Thursday by Premier Inc. The company works with thousands of hospitals with medical supply purchases.

Nearly 17% of the providers surveyed said they have postponed elective surgeries, and another 58% of the respondents said they’re considering delaying procedures in the future.

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services says hospitals and healthcare providers may see shortages of IV fluids for weeks, though the department says it is working to alleviate the problem.

The shortages are tied to the flooding of a Baxter International plant in western North Carolina, a region which experienced disastrous flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Helene. The plant was flooded and has been closed.

Baxter officials say they are working to ramp up supplies at other facilities and hope to reopen the Marion, N.C. plant in stages. Baxter said Wednesday that the company hopes to resume normal production levels at the plant before the end of the year.

The Baxter plant produces 60% of the IV solutions used by hospitals, health systems, and other providers, according to the American Hospital Association.

The hospital association has been pressing the federal government to take more steps to ensure health systems have adequate supplies of IV fluids, including a letter to President Biden about the impact of the shortages. Hospitals are pushing the government to invoke the Defense Production Act to spur manufacturers to produce more IV fluids. The hospital association is also asking the government to identify more foreign suppliers.

'No silver bullet'

Hospitals are already working to conserve supplies. The vast majority of healthcare providers (81%) said they are already employing strategies to conserve supplies, according to the Premier survey. The health department has asked healthcare providers to conserve IV supplies, even if they aren’t experiencing disruptions yet.

Nearly 9 in 10 (88%) of the healthcare providers surveyed said they are receiving less than half of their requested orders for IV fluids. Just over half (54%) said their stock of IV fluids will last 10 days or less, according to the survey. Typically, healthcare providers have enough IV fluids on hand to last for 15 to 22 days, according to Premier’s analysis of supply trends.

Some smaller providers are having a particularly hard time, according to Premier’s survey. Smaller providers, identified as those with 25 or fewer beds, were more likely than others to report receiving none of the IV fluids they ordered.

Tom Cotter is the executive director of Healthcare Ready, a nonprofit organization that works to ensure healthcare providers have supplies during emergencies. Cotter tells Chief Healthcare Executive® that leaders aren’t panicking, but there are plenty of concerns over IV supplies.

“So far, there hasn't been any acute shortage of IV solutions for critical patients,” Cotter says. “And that's good, but how long will that be?” The answer isn’t clear, since it depends on how much is in warehouses and health systems, and how much providers can stretch supplies.

Nearly 60% of healthcare providers say their primary concern with the situation is how long the shortage will last, while 25% of participants said their chief worry is finding alternate suppliers, according to the Premier survey.

Cotter suggests that there won’t be a quick resolution of the problem. The Baxter plant in North Carolina has been down for two weeks, and it typically produces 1.5 million bags of IV solution every day.

“There is no silver bullet for this,” Cotter says. “This is going to take multiple strategies to mitigate the impacts of this. Whether the plant comes online tomorrow or it comes online in December, there needs to be a multi-pronged approach to ensure that this doesn't significantly impact patients.”

Some feared additional disruptions because another key production facility of IV supplies is based in Daytona Beach, Florida, and some worried that Hurricane Milton would damage the plant. Cotter says the plant avoided major damage and is slated to reopen Friday.

Concerns of price gouging

In a letter to healthcare leaders Wednesday, U.S. Health & Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said that supplies may be “constrained” in the coming weeks. He said the government is working with Baxter and other manufacturers to address the shortages.

“We understand these circumstances are hard for many providers and healthcare systems and we ask for your partnership at this critical time,” Becerra wrote.

Some providers are worried about price gouging due to the dwindling supplies. In another disturbing finding, more than 40% of the providers said they’re starting to get pitches from unapproved suppliers offering to sell them IV fluids, albeit at highly marked up prices.

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., has urged the Health Department to work with the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to “prevent the distribution of counterfeit IV solutions.”

Premier surveyed providers Oct. 7-8 and gathered responses from 257 providers, with 90% of respondents staffing acute care beds. The survey participants represent more than 101,000 beds, or about 11% of all acute care beds nationwide, the company said.

Cotter and other healthcare leaders say the challenges posed by Helene and the recent dockworkers’ strike underscore the need for more resiliency in the supply chain.