Integrated Pharmacy Benefits for Specialty Pharmaceuticals: Access and Management

Integrated Pharmacy Benefits for Specialty Pharmaceuticals: Access and Management. A reference for all healthcare, pharmaceutical, employer professionals, and pharmacy students that better helps them understand the complex world of managed pharmacy benefits, particularly as it applies to specialty pharmaceuticals.

Integrated Pharmacy Benefits for Specialty Drugs: Access and Management is a detailed resource that explains the complexities of specialty pharmacy including (1) the supply chain, (2) differences between specialty and nonspecialty drugs, (3) controlling access and costs, and (4) implications of a drug pipeline heavily comprising specialty drugs.

A companion volume to Pharmacy Benefits for Nonspecialty Drugs: Access and Management, this book helps readers understand the relationships among pharmaceutical contracting and prescribing, pharmacy distribution and dispensing, pharmacy utilization management and policies, patient cost sharing and adherence, and how to “follow the money” throughout the system.

As these products become more the norm for treatment of chronic conditions in various patient populations, they also become associated with the growing trend in the overall total cost of care increases that include diagnostics and devices along with provider professional fees.  

Specialty pharmacy or provider dispensing and management of these drugs include particular handling, medication adherence and monitoring, limited or restricted distribution, and increased collaboration with other health care providers compared with the dispensing and management of nonspecialty drugs in a local community pharmacy.

Our previously published Glossary of Common Drug-Related Benefit Terms & Acronyms and Pharmacy Benefits for Nonspecialty Drugs: Access and Management provided general information, pharmacy benefit insights and trends, and common drug-related terms and acronyms that apply to both pharmacy and medical benefits. However, neither focused on specialty drugs as a key responsible driver of the economic trend in modern medicine and total health care costs, especially for chronic conditions.