Brand sprawl is a purchasing tax
Every additional brand for the same molecule splits your purchase volume, weakens your negotiating position, and adds an expiry risk line. A disciplined formulary is not clinical restriction; it is the same medicine bought better.
Expiry is a forward-looking number
Counting expired stock is accounting. Flagging stock ninety days from expiry while it can still be consumed, transferred, or returned to the distributor is management. The difference is pure margin.
| Item | Standard | Consequence / owner |
|---|---|---|
| Brands per molecule | Fewer, negotiated harder | Purchase volume concentrates |
| Expiry horizon | Flag at 90 days, act at 60 | Sell, transfer, or return in time |
| Ward issue vs return | Counted both directions, nightly | Shrinkage becomes visible |
| Scheme vs cash price lists | Maintained separately, applied automatically | No undercharging on schemes |
| Slow movers | Quarterly review against actual prescribing | Dead stock stops accumulating |
Ward returns are where counts go to die
Medication goes up to the ward, the patient is discharged, and what comes back is recorded loosely or not at all. A closed return loop — counted out, counted back, reconciled nightly — is unglamorous and pays every single day.
What to do on Monday
- Count brands per top-20 molecule; set a target.
- Turn on a 90-day expiry flag and assign one owner.
- Reconcile ward returns nightly for one month; measure the gap.
Worked examples on this page are illustrative arithmetic on stated assumptions, not measured market statistics.