COUNTER TALK
Ready for Anything Adapting specialty drug distribution to address the challenges of COVID-19 By Pavlos Pavlidis
A Pavlos Pavlidis, vice president and COO, Biologics by McKesson
s an independent specialty pharmacy, Biologics by McKesson prides itself on having a mail-order delivery system that meets patients where they are. Yet like many companies, the COVID19 pandemic was the ultimate pressure test for our operations, highlighting the strengths of our model and quickly showing where we needed to adapt to improve moving forward. It was a challenge that pushed us to think creatively and flexibly about meeting patients’ needs without circumventing quality or compliance. While the country is certainly not out of the woods in terms of COVID-19, I expect the updates we’ve made will remain in place and complement our services well into the future. Here’s a look at how we built upon our model to create one that’s better equipped to evolve with the unique challenges of this time.
Invest in Getting it Right For patients who need specialty drugs, including those living with cancer or rare diseases, getting the right therapy at the right time is everything. The pandemic also highlighted the importance of oral medications, especially for patients who might experience challenges or risks by traveling to receive on-site treatments. Before COVID-19, we offered two shipping options: second-day air, arriving at each destination within two days; or overnight, arriving by the end of the day, usually around 8 p.m. Yet as nationwide shutdowns impacted national shipping infrastructures, it became increasingly difficult — and expensive— to reliably deliver products to patients in the manner they had come to expect. What we didn’t do was cut corners. Instead, we scrapped our previous system and moved to a new model where we shipped everything — from oncology prescriptions to supplemental therapies — overnight to patients, with guaranteed delivery by 10:30 a.m. the next morning. This wasn’t the easiest decision, as the change resulted in new challenges, but it signaled to patients that we were doing everything in our
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power to get them the right product at the right time. The result has been so positive that we have no plans to switch back.
Enlist Expert Experience COVID-19’s impact on the national distribution landscape was immediate as the influx of online consumer orders put more strain on mail systems and couriers while making it difficult to anticipate delivery issues or resolve them in real time. As a nimble, highly focused specialty pharmacy, we invest in resources that allow us to ship medications in ways that guarantee quality and safety. This means working with certified vendors that provide temperature mapping and refrigeration according to variances by zones and zip codes and tracking shipments to ensure they are delivered as expected — and intervening whenever necessary. We recognize that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work for patients who depend on specialty pharmacies — especially amid a pandemic — so we take the extra step to invest in partnerships that will help us meet their needs every time.
Ground Your Operations in Purpose For people working in health care, the past year reminded us of the impact our work can have. I became a pharmacist to change lives. Having grown up around older people, I know that the drugs we deliver can be the difference in whether a patient gets out of bed each day, and the pandemic raised those stakes even higher. As patients with compromised immune systems faced an increased risk of severe illness from the virus that causes COVID-19, we had to adapt without a blueprint. More than ever, we had to ensure patient access to therapies while delivering personalized clinical care to help them understand how to take their medication, manage potential side effects and achieve the best outcomes possible. As our processes shifted, being cost-effective was never as critical as providing uninterrupted clinical counseling and reassurance to patients. Taking the extra time and investing in resources to impact their care is always worth the effort. dsn
June 2021 DRUGSTORENEWS.COM
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