In 2023, Invistics, part of Wolters Kluwer, collaborated with Eliciting Insights to conduct a study to assess healthcare executives’ perceptions of drug diversion programs. This report provides a comprehensive look at hospital programs from the view of healthcare executives, pharmacists, and drug diversion specialists.The State of Drug Diversion Report is the fourth of its kind. From 2017 to 2021, Porter Research published three studies bi-annually similar to this research study that measured healthcare executives’ drug diversion knowledge, confidence, and experience with detection programs.
Consistent with the prior years’ studies, almost all survey participants believe that drug diversion occurs in hospitals across the U.S. but that most incidents go unreported. Additionally, about two-thirds of participants say they are either “not confident” or only “somewhat confident” in their organization’s drug diversion program’s effectiveness.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to hinder drug diversion programs in 2023. Over half (54%) of respondents say their programs suffer due to staff turnover, and 69% say the increase in floating staff makes tracking drug diversion more difficult. 34% say their drug diversion budgets got reallocated due to other priorities.
In this report, you will discover:
- The extent of the drug diversion issue in hospitals and its impact on the quality of care delivered and the bottom line
- How technologies that support drug diversion detection have evolved to include artificial intelligence/machine learning and how advanced technologies improve confidence in diversion detection
- Actions taken by hospital leaders to prioritize their drug diversion programs to protect both their healthcare workers and patients