Specialty Pharmacy Excels at Direct Patient Management

Specialty pharmacy began in the 1970s and has come a long way. The industry’s successful growth is largely due to patient management programs and strategies that have continued to evolve over the past decades. What began as a need to deliver specialty injectables has grown into a complex system with a team of people working together. Specialty pharmacy now treats a wide range of complex disease states and helps navigate the treatment process for both patient and manufacturer. The higher standard of care and experienced pharmacy staff ensures better patient outcomes and greater benefits for manufacturers.

Integrated Technology

Technology has advanced greatly in recent decades and these developments have shaped specialty pharmacy. Using the latest technology to automate and streamline operations, specialty pharmacies can better minimize the risk of human error. Patients also have access to tools and applications with treatment education, enhanced communication with their providers, and the ability to optimize their treatment regimens.

With automated care plans, delivering treatment guidelines and disease education helps patients maintain the best practices for medication adherence. Analytics and reporting provide patients and manufacturers a more accurate and comprehensive treatment experience. Additional tools like provider portals can give insights into a treatment’s challenges and set expectations for patients, allowing them to stay ahead of side effects. Since health records and medical information for patients can easily be updated, data can be used to prevent drug interactions and other side effects.

Improving Patient Care and Treatment Outcomes

Specialty pharmacy utilizes several patient-centric methods to monitor dispensing, ensure proper dosing, and help maintain medication adherence. Specialty pharmacy employs highly-educated and specially trained pharmacy staff and uses personalized solutions to ensure a higher standard of care. Frequent communication and interaction between patient and pharmacist gives insight into a patient’s behavior and needs, which can improve treatment outcomes and quality of life as well as monitor effectiveness, minimize side effects, and stay on top of symptoms.

Harnessing Patient Behavior

Putting patients into broad categories, like a person’s condition, may have been an early practice of specialty pharmacy. But as time has passed, clinicians now focus on the patient’s needs as an individual rather than a general group. How a patient responds to their condition or a treatment protocol can inform which management and communication strategies will lead to the best possible outcomes. A better understanding of a patient’s behavior allows providers to tailor a care plan that will fit the patient’s lifestyle. With this foundation of knowledge, caregivers can also help change the behaviors that might lead to poorer outcomes. Medication adherence is key to any treatment plan, and understanding why a patient does not adhere to a protocol can help prevent future disruption.

Specialty pharmacy is patient-centric with monitored quality standards and highly-educated staff. As science and technology continue to advance, specialty pharmacy will continue to transform and improve patient care and treatment outcomes.

PFSP Specialty Pharmacy provides patients and their physicians an exceptionally high standard of care with our growing team of specialized pharmacists and staff. Our dedicated team of pharmacists focus on improving adherence for patients and work to find an approach that works best for them. Bringing a fresh take on what a Specialty Pharmacy can and should be, we are committed to the care of our patients. We take pride in being an ethical resource within our community and strive each day to help our patients live enriching and full lives.

https://www.pharmacytimes.com/view/reflecting-on-the-history-of-specialty-pharmacy