Shaping specialty pharmacy’s future: 4 perspectives
At AMCP, four stakeholders representing the specialty pharmacy perspective, manufacturer perspective, payer perspective, and PBM perspective shared their thoughts on the future of specialty pharmacy.
“How Do We Shape the Future of Specialty Pharmacy” led off the education sessions at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy’s (AMCP’s)
Panel participants, representing four different stakeholder perspectives, were Phil Hagerman, RPh, CEO/chairman, Diplomat Pharmacy, Inc.; Jeff Henderson, vice president, managed markets, Intarcia Therapeutics; James Lang, PharmD, MBA, vice president, pharmacy services, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan; and Steve Miller, MD, senior vice president and chief medical officer, Express Scripts, Inc.
Steven Avey, RPh, vice president, specialty clinical team for MedImpact Healthcare Systems who served panel moderator, set the stage by emphasizing the burden of cost created by specialty drugs, while at the same time, noting that they improve quality of life for people with rare diseases.
Specialty pharmacy perspective
Hagerman
Hagerman represented the specialty pharmacy perspective on the panel, saying the industry has succeeded in delivering clinical results of specialty drugs but not economic projections.
He said the trend is toward more limited distribution as a way for manufacturers to control the patent experience after clinical trials.
Looking through a crystal ball, he foresees more robust technology platforms; customer work flow apps; state-of-the art data warehousing; business intelligence tools for data visualization; transparency relationship management; expanded mobile use; and physician, patient and manufacturer portals in real time.
Drug manufacturer perspective
Henderson
Henderson wore the drug manufacturer hat and outlined the specialty drug landscape-cost and complexity plus business needs. His future predictions-although some already exist-feature treatment of complex conditions, access and use of data, high costs, limited distribution, revenue recognition, special storage and handling and ongoing monitoring of safety, with an emphasis on multiple sclerosis, hepatitis C and hematology.
He see specialty pharmacy as superior to retail for these high-cost drugs because of its ability to provide 24/7, high-touch service, assistance with prior authorization, help with enrolling patients in financial support programs, patient education and counseling, adherence management and follow-up with healthcare plans.
“Specialty pharmacy can help manufacturers assist patients on their journey to measure outcomes and determine the value of our products,” Henderson said.
“Manufacturers have more pressure to deliver value, provide cost-effective outcomes and develop value-based contracting through alternative payment models with plans.”
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