The Pursuit of Excellence: Implementing an Integrated High Performing Specialty Pharmacy Model

Today’s guest post comes from Joseph Morse, CEO of Therigy. Joe describes challenges faced by specialty pharmacy leaders and Therigy’s solution for achieving a high performing, integrated specialty pharmacy service model.

You can also download Therigy’s case study: Memorial Hermann Realizes Significant Care Enhancements and Cost Savings by Bringing Specialty Pharmacy Services In-House. This case study explores how the largest health system in southeast Texas developed internal specialty pharmacy services.

Read on for Joe’s insights.

The Pursuit of Excellence: Implementing an Integrated High Performing Specialty Pharmacy Model
By Joseph Morse, CEO, Therigy

As the specialty pharmacy industry has grown, the challenges experienced by physicians and practitioners have become more complex and include:

• High administrative workload on clinic staff
• Navigating insurance coverage for patients
• Disconnected communication across payers, pharmacies, and providers
• Delays in patients starting critical medication

How do you, as a leader in your specialty pharmacy, overcome these challenges and begin to develop an integrated model that is high performing?

DEVELOPMENT OF INTEGRATED PHARMACY SERVICES

Below are some common first steps in developing an integrated pharmacy service model.

1. Identify responsible parties to integrate workflow and information sharing
2. Conduct clinical, technology, and operational training
3. Implement integrated technology and reporting
4. Partner, where needed, with high performing specialty pharmacies
5. Align goals of therapy with patient care plans

The success of this strategic initiative is built in the design, development, and implementation of the integrated program. Once all the hard work is done and the foundation is set, what does a high performing pharmacy model look like?

ADVANTAGES OF AN INTEGRATED PHARMACY SERVICE MODEL

A high performing integrated pharmacy service model offers:

• Real-time patient onboarding with specialty pharmacy
• Streamlined insurance benefit communications
• Complete patient consultation, educational training, and therapy assessment
• Improved time to start therapy

The result is enhanced patient care, improved outcomes, and achievement of cost savings.

Benefits of an integrated specialty pharmacy service model include:

• Patient: Delivers standardized patient care that meets the goals of therapy
• Continuity: Promotes continuity of care as an interdisciplinary healthcare team
• Outcomes: Improves patient outcomes and treatment cost of care
• Experience: Increases patient satisfaction, overall patient experience, and provider relations
• Reporting: Reports interventions to demonstrate clinical outcomes and quality of care

For more than a decade, Therigy’s role as a leader in specialty pharmacy consulting and technology has enabled its clients to help address industry trends and market opportunities throughout their specialty pharmacy journey.

Often the pharmacy leadership will implement this new service with health system employees to demonstrate success and then broaden to serve all patients in a phased approach to roll out to physician specialties.

Download a case study that describes one of Therigy’s recent engagements with a client: Memorial Hermann Realizes Significant Care Enhancements and Cost Savings by Bringing Specialty Pharmacy Services In-House.

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