Developing a Method for Reporting Patient Harm Due to Antimicrobial Shortages

Introduction The number of drug shortages in the United States has increased in recent years. While some literature exists on factors that contribute to antimicrobial shortages, the need remains to accurately gage the level of patient harm incurred as a result of realized antimicrobial shortages. Furthermore, current methods of reporting adverse drug events are known to under-report instances of patient harm. We sought to develop an ongoing and accurate method of reporting patient harm due to antimicrobial shortages, which was convenient, anonymous, and allowed clinicians to estimate the causality due to a shortage.