PTCB Supply Chain case studies
PTCB Supply Chain · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The PTCB Supply Chain and Inventory Management Certificate is one of the certificate credentials listed in PTCB's certificate catalog, alongside offerings such as Billing and Reimbursement, Hazardous Drug Management, and Regulatory Compliance. It is aimed at pharmacy technicians and pharmacy support staff whose day-to-day work involves ordering products, maintaining stock levels, receiving shipments, processing returns, managing recalls, and keeping the documentation that regulators and auditors expect. The PTCB Supply Chain case studies are 5 cases and about 3,515 words.
1The Cold Call and the 48-Hour Discount
A 180-bed community hospital's outpatient pharmacy is down to 44 vials of a generic injectable it uses at a steady 4 vials per day; the contracted wholesaler has the item on backorder with no release date. On Tuesday an unfamiliar secondary distributor cold-calls: 200 vials at 31 each versus the contract price of 47, "14-month dating," delivery within 48 hours.
753 words, about 4 min2Par Levels, Fridge Space, and a 2% Discount
An outpatient oncology infusion center uses a refrigerated single-use vial at an average of 9 vials per working day. Average wholesaler lead time is 5 days, but twice this quarter it has been 7.
668 words, about 3 min3The Friday 4:50 Delivery
on a Friday a wholesaler driver delivers five line items and asks the technician to sign so he can leave. Line 2: 3 of 30 glass bottles are broken and the tote floor is wet.
691 words, about 3 min4Class II Recall With Six Bottles in the Return Bin
Monday morning a wholesaler emails a manufacturer recall: Drug Y 500 mg tablets, lots K2214 and K2215, Class II, "subpotent - may result in reduced therapeutic effect," all units distributed January through March. A quick check shows 4 bottles of K2214 and 2 bottles of K2215 on the shelf; 37 bottles of K2214 dispensed to 29 patients since February; and 6 unopened bottles of K2214 that a patient returned last week, sitting in the will-call return bin, never restocked.
691 words, about 3 min5The Technician, the Old Power of Attorney, and the Altered 222
A newly hired certified pharmacy technician at a hospital outpatient pharmacy is asked to order three Schedule II products and one Schedule III product on Monday morning. In the controlled-substance safe she finds: a partially completed DEA Form 222 bearing one supplier's name with 3 line items already used; a Power of Attorney dated 2019 naming the pharmacy's former manager, who left 18 months ago; and a note that the pharmacy's CSOS certificate expired over the weekend.
712 words, about 4 min