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How are Providers Managing Specialty Drugs?
A KLAS Brief on the Specialty Pharmacy Market
Author
Adam Cherrington
Author
Jonathan Christensen
Today, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for tracking and documenting the various aspects of specialty drug administration and adherence across the continuum of care. Over three-quarters of inpatient providers are already providing specialty services or planning to do so in the next two years, and with no comprehensive solution available, organizations must cobble together multiple systems to meet their specialty pharmacy needs. Which vendors/systems are providers leveraging? What types of organizations can benefit from a dedicated specialty pharmacy system? This summary gives a brief look at the current state of this emerging market.
1. SPECIALTY PHARMACY PATH TO SUCCESS
What tools & systems are being used, and what are providers like me doing?
2. PROVIDERS PIECING SPECIALTY PHARMACY TOGETHER
Providers are using self-created tools, outpatient pharmacy software, specialty pharmacy solutions, pieces of the EMR, and conglomerates of other solutions to track, manage, and document specialty drug administration and ensure proper delivery. Providers often track the preauthorization process with spreadsheets while using outpatient pharmacy systems to track inventory. In some cases, larger organizations use dedicated specialty pharmacy systems to aid in case management.
3. FEW PROVIDERS ARE USING A SPECIALTY PHARMACY VENDOR; THERIGY MENTIONED MOST OFTEN
Among providers using dedicated specialty pharmacy systems, Therigy is being used most frequently, followed by Armada. Mediware and Creehan are also in use. Only a small portion of providers offering specialty pharmacy services (generally larger health systems) use dedicated systems for their comprehensive specialty drug protocols and better tools for tracking administration processes. Regardless of specialty pharmacy system, providers end up having to do duplicate documentation in their EMR to make up for nonexistent interfaces. In some cases, providers feel specialty systems are a temporary solution until their EMR vendor (specifically Epic) or their outpatient pharmacy system offers a more complete solution.
4. OPPORTUNITY FOR LEADERSHIP FOR OUTPATIENT PHARMACY SYSTEMS
Respondents using McKesson (EnterpriseRx), QS/1, Cerner and Epic in conjunction with specialty pharmacy operations benefit from claims-management, dispensing, and billing functionality, but they still want more drug-specific protocol guidance and case-management tools. About 50% of respondents offering specialty pharmacy services are using their outpatient pharmacy software to help with billing and inventory.
Writer
Jonathan Christensen
Designer
Natalie Jamison
Project Manager
Robert Ellis
This material is copyrighted. Any organization gaining unauthorized access to this report will be liable to compensate KLAS for the full retail price. Please see the KLAS DATA USE POLICY for information regarding use of this report. © 2024 KLAS Research, LLC. All Rights Reserved. NOTE: Performance scores may change significantly when including newly interviewed provider organizations, especially when added to a smaller sample size like in emerging markets with a small number of live clients. The findings presented are not meant to be conclusive data for an entire client base.