9/14/23 | 4:15pm | E51-335

Anita Carson

Larz Anderson Professor of Management
Boston University

Abstract: Problem definition: Despite their frequency, there is scant research studying how substitutions in response to pharmaceutical supply chain disruptions impact medication errors in hospitals. To address this gap, we study this causal relationship using a natural experiment: hurricane damage to factories that produce heparin, an important drug used frequently in hospitals. Methodology/results: We collect data on medication errors from U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Adverse Event Reporting System and we gather drug sales data from IQVIA’s National Sales PerspectiveTM. Applying the synthetic control method, we find that the hurricane-related pharmaceutical supply chain disruption increased heparin medication error rates by about 152%. In addition, we find significant spillover effects. The supply chain disruption increased medication error rates of a substitute drug, Enoxaparin, by about 114%. Implications: Our study shows that prophylaxis measures assumed to be effective, such as substituting medications, may be unsafe. Our paper contributes to the supply chain management literature by empirically linking the effects of supply chain disruptions on downstream errors. Additionally, this paper complements medical literature studying the impact of drug shortages on medication errors by providing a rigorous causal estimate. Finally, we discuss several measures that hospital managers can implement to prevent medication errors during a drug supply disruption.

Bio: Anita Carson is the Larz Anderson Professor of Management at Boston University and the chair of the Operations & Technology Management department. Previously, she was on the faculty at Wharton, Harvard and Brandeis. She received her doctorate from the Harvard Business School, where she won the George S. Dively Dissertation Award. Her dissertation, which resulted in 7 publications, received the Best Dissertation Award from AcademyHealth. She is currently department editor for M&SOM’s Environment, Health and Society Department and is a trustee for Boston University’s Medical Group. Her research explores how organizations learn from failures, and how organizations can improve performance through technology-driven process redesign. Since 2018 she has won 6 Best Paper awards for her papers published in Management Science, M&SOM, POM and JOM. She is a 3-time recipient of the excellence in MBA teaching award at BU; and won HBS’ Wyss Award for excellence in mentoring doctoral students.