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Serving managed care, health-system and specialty decision makers Volume 9 • Number 2 • March/April 2020 • specialtypharmacycontinuum.com
TECHNOLOGY Novel e-tools for managing opioid use disorder ..........
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Paving the Way for The Patient’s Journey
CLINICAL
COVID-19:
90-Day Refills May Strain Supply Chain
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Strategies to rein in the high cost of hemophilia ............................
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New therapies bring down pancreatic cancer spending ................
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A PBM’s approach to managing HIV patients ................................... 8
OPERATIONS & MGMT New rules urge more surface wipe sampling for hazardous drugs ..............
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POLICY
The slow embrace of biosimilars hampers savings .............
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cross the country, pharmacies have been seeing a significant uptick in patients seeking to extend 30-day prescriptions to 90 days to ensure access to their medications amid the growing COVID-19 crisis. While stakeholders say they have been able to meet these requests, several indicate that it’s only a matter of time before the supply chain buckles under these new pressures. “If we have everyone going out trying to get a six-month supply of medicine, that can strain the system,” said Nicolette Louissaint, PhD, the executive director of Healthcare Ready, based in Washington. Continued on page 20
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he “pa he pati tien ien entt jo jour jour urne neyy.” L ne Lo ook k at th the he ag a en end da for anyy spe da p ci cial alty lty ty pharmacy h meeting i and d yo ou’re almost l certain to see this phrase in thee title of at least one session. But what does it actually mean, and how does it affect clin nical and financial outcomes? Rebekah Anguiano, PharmD D, a clinical assistant professor of phaarmacy at the University of Illinoiis (UI) at Chicago, suggests thatt the best way to frame the patientt journey is as a series of barrierss or roadblocks along that path. “In our surveys of patients and providers, many of the roaadblocks that we have found—and this should come as no surprise—[invvolve] the insurance process, includin ng prior authorization, appeals for deniaals, copay and coinsurance burdens, and qualification q for financial assistance,” Dr. Angguiano said.
CF Patients’ Risk For Ototoxicity Underreported Las Vegas—The complex needs of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) who are managed by specialty pharmacies just got a bit more complicated by a new study showing that these patients have a much higher risk for developing aminoglycoside-induced ototoxicity than previously thought. The researchers are urging centers to monitor patients with CF more closely for aminoglycoside-induced ototoxicity after finding high rates of the complication at their institution. After implementing a pharmacistrecommended monitoring protocol,
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