Advancing Patient Care Through Specialty Pharmacy Services in an Academic Health System

Abstract

No outside funding supported this study. The authors have nothing to disclose. Study concept and design were principally contributed by Bagwell and Newman, along with the other authors. Lee took the lead in data collection, along with Carver, Bagwell, Kelley, and Newman. Data interpretation was performed by Carver, Kelley, Lee, and Bagwell, with assistance from Newman. The manuscript was written by Bagwell, Carver, Kelley, and Lee and revised primarily by Bagwell, along with the other authors.

Best practices: Incorporating pharmacy technicians and other support personnel into the clinical pharmacist's process of care

“…Technicians and support personnel with experience in billing and coding have been used in specialty pharmacies to support daily operations . In addition to managing the prior authorization process, technicians assist with financial assessments, coordinate case management activities, facilitate refill and medication delivery, document education in the electronic medical record, and assist with adherence monitoring …”

“…32,86 In addition to managing the prior authorization process, technicians assist with financial assessments, coordinate case management activities, facilitate refill and medication delivery, document education in the electronic medical record, and assist with adherence monitoring. 51,86,87 To support quality improvement activities and pharmacy operations, data analyst functions performed by support personnel include running monthly reports on drug use patterns to assess financial impact, compiling and administering satisfaction surveys to obtain feedback on clinical pharmacy services, and assessing outcomes of institutional initiatives and quality improvement reporting. 53 A technician informaticist with skills in developing, maintaining, and using systems and databases can help streamline workflows, test reporting functionalities, and teach others in the institution how to use the technology systems in support of medication use safety policies.…”

Building a Hepatitis C Clinical Program: Strategies to Optimize Outcomes

“…Patient approval rates utilizing a program nurse alongside a patient navigator were 93% as compared to 81–91% demonstrated in several real-world studies [ 39 , 40 , 41 •, 42 ]. Other examples of successful models integrate specialty pharmacies directly into the HCV multidisciplinary team; these models have improved medication approval and access rates while decreasing time to therapy initiation and reducing patient financial burden [ 43 , 44 ]. Specialty pharmacy integration may include embedding a trained pharmacy technician or pharmacist in an affiliated clinic to work independently or alongside a nurse coordinator [ 43 , 44 ].…”

“…Other examples of successful models integrate specialty pharmacies directly into the HCV multidisciplinary team; these models have improved medication approval and access rates while decreasing time to therapy initiation and reducing patient financial burden [ 43 , 44 ]. Specialty pharmacy integration may include embedding a trained pharmacy technician or pharmacist in an affiliated clinic to work independently or alongside a nurse coordinator [ 43 , 44 ]. When this type of integration is not an option, developing and maintaining a strong relationship with an external or internal specialty pharmacy may provide similar patient access successes [ 45 ].…”

An Integrated Health-System Specialty Pharmacy Model for Coordinating Transitions of Care: Specialty Medication Challenges and Specialty Pharmacist Opportunities

“…A growing number of health systems have developed internal specialty pharmacies to alleviate barriers to accessing specialty medications, improve appropriate utilization and optimization of specialty agents, and streamline transitions in care [13][14][15][16][17]. Several studies have demonstrated the benefit of pharmacists in maintaining continuity of care for patients transitioning from one healthcare setting to another [18,19].…”