Inside Specialty Drug Dispensing at Physician Practices

As I discuss in Chapter 8 of the 2013-14 Economic Report on Retail, Mail, and Specialty Pharmacies, the growth in oral oncology products is encouraging physicians to dispense these products from offices and clinics. These practice-affiliated pharmacies act as “closed door” pharmacies by dispensing only to the practice’s patients.

For an insider’s perspective, check out a great video interview (below) with Ray Bailey, PharmD, Pharmacy Director for Florida Cancer Specialists (FCS), one of the largest U.S. oncology/hematology practices.

FCS operates Rx to Go, a specialty pharmacy that acts a central fill service for FCS’s 81 locations. Rx to Go dispenses more than 3,000 prescriptions per month. Most are oral oncolytics. (Note that Dr. Bailey misspoke on the video and said "3,000 prescriptions per day.")

As this video illustrates, manufacturers developing a specialty channel strategy should consider practice-affiliated pharmacies. It also highlights why Express Scripts partnered with Raintree Oncology Services.

Click here if you can’t see the video.



P.S. Dr. Bailey tells me that he's a big Drug Channels fan. Cool!

P.S.2. Like me, Dr. Bailey will be at next month's Armada Specialty Pharmacy Summit. See you in Vegas! #ArmadaSRx14