Bridging the gap between the hospital and post-discharge care
Volume 1 • Number 1 • Winter 2012 A Supplement to Pharmacy Practice News
In This Issue
Embracing Rather Than Fighting Specialty Pharmacy
Ask the Expert
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nfusion centers and other community practice sites that manage patients post-discharge share a common lament: Why do so many of those patients often struggle with the basics of care after they leave the (usually) safe confines of the hospital? One glaring contributing factor is a lack of collaboration between hospitals and the community sites of care, according to Dennis Street, RPh, lead pharmacist at Mercy Home Infusion, which is affiliated with Mercy Hospital in St. Louis. “It’s a big enough transition to get patients out of the hospital, much less getting them out of the hospital and starting them on
Tips for partnering with managed care organizations, plus cost-saving strategies.
Q&A
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Stephanie Holliday, PharmD, discusses REMS, self-administered oral chemotherapy and other hot topics in specialty pharmacy.
Opinion
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Aetna Specialty Pharmacy, other providers offer drug adherence strategies.
Educational Review
18
Antimicrobial Efficacy
Policy
24
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N. Lois Adams, BPharm, on reining in the high cost of drug therapy.
Operations & Mgmt
Patient assistance programs, plus a projection that specialty pharmacy drug spending will soar by 26.5% in 2012.
Building a Better Care Transition: What Works Now
see CARE TRANSITION, page 8
University of Illinois clinical staff pharmacist Nehrin Khamo, PharmD, educates a patient on self-injection techniques.
Tips for Surviving The TPN Shortage
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lthough many health-system pharmacists bristle at limited distribution networks and other restrictions placed on some specialty medications, more and more of them are deciding to embrace specialty pharmacy rather than fight it, and thus join the ranks of smaller and larger specialty operations providing that segment of care. To offer insights into this new source of competition, Specialty Pharmacy Continuum profiled three hospitals that are bolstering their presence in the market: The University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System, Chicago; Fairview Pharmacy Services, Minneapolis; and Duke University Hospital, Durham, N.C. The health systems cite revenue loss as one reason for their recent efforts: they simply can’t afford to continue seeing patients siphoned off to specialty pharmacy providers. But finances aren’t the only motivation; another key driver is the need to provide for patients’ total health needs across transitions of care, as the era of accountable care organizations and payments based on quality standards gets under way. For Kyle Skiermont, PharmD, director of specialty infusion operations at Fairview Pharmacy Services, improving patient care is the No. 1 reason health systems enter or expand into the specialty pharmacy area. His operation, a part of Fairview Health Services, a large regional network of hospitals, already is well established as a
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see EMBRACE, page 11
FDA Approvals
hings have been heating up on the IV nutrition shortage front. Last fall, Baxter hosted the first-ever nutrition shortage safety summit, and the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (A.S.P.E.N.), which put together a task force to address the supply shortages, has been issuing frequent updates and guidances to help its members prioritize, substitute and manage the limited supplies they have. But such regulatory and policy efforts only go so far in mitigating the effects of the shortage on patient care. Here are several practical strategies that home infusion centers are using right now to weather the storm.
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see TPN SHORTAGE, page 10
The Book Page
Kalydeco approved for cystic fibrosis patients with CFR gene mutation.
MedInfoNow Subscription
See page 26.
See page 27.