October 2020

Pharmacists assist their colleagues in drug preparation, ensure that patients understand treatment expectations, manage adverse effects, and provide monitoring and follow-up to improve quality of life and patient outcomes.

Since atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome has a poor prognosis, it is essential that diagnosis occurs rapidly, and treatment is started as soon as possible to prevent progression to endstage renal disease.

Digital health tools were a major theme during the NASP Challenge, a competition designed to spur innovation and creative ideas for specialty pharmacy.

A presentation titled Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: The Specialty Pharmacist’s Role in Patient Care and Population Management featured 2 experts discussing updates in the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), augmented with video clips recorded by a patient with a diagnosis of IPF.

Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) is similar to many neuromuscular diseases but has unique features in the 30,000 affected Americans.

The latest survey programs out of NASP have found that the specialty pharmacy industry needs to focus on increased resources for implementing technology based solutions.

A panel of experts outlined various challenges to data standardization as well as potential solutions available through further collaboration.

The 340B program allows covered entities to stretch scarce federal resources to the furthest extent possible to provide patients in need with comprehensive services.

Ardon Health patients with autoimmune conditions have expressed common questions and concerns about COVID-19.

Kelly said life experiences, including his son's rare disease and death, are what ultimately prepared him to deal with cancer.

A session during the National Association of Specialty Pharmacy (NASP) 2020 Annual Meeting & Expo Virtual Experience, held September 14 to 18, 2020, highlighted some of the nonprofit’s activities.

Providers must account for important considerations when choosing the appropriate therapy for each patient based on their specific needs.

The right communication system can increase patient engagement and adherence while allowing the pharmacy team to turn their attention to other issues.

The specialty pipeline continues to grow at a rapid pace with a number of FDA approvals in 2019 for either new therapies or first in class for certain conditions, and many more drugs in development.

The pharmacy’s mind-set should be “Let’s solve the problem” rather than being defensive and attempting to “win the argument” with a PBM audit.

An expert panel discussed the changes to their businesses, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and what they think the future holds for specialty pharmacy.

Clinical education, strong data analytics, and collaboration are the key aspects in providing patient support and access to specialty pharmaceutical manufacturers.

The US Department of Health & Human Services released guidance at the beginning of the pandemic clarifying guidelines regarding best practices in HIV care.

Specialty continuing education is crucial for technicians to expand and focus on their specialty content.

Being able to cleanse and update patient information, and improve data insights can help health care professionals achieve optimal health outcomes and complete an overall shift to value-based care.

This activity is supported by an educational grant from Janssen Therapeutics, division of Janssen Products, LP.

This activity is supported by an educational grant from CSL Behring, LLC.

This activity is supported by an educational grant from Biomarin Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

The NASP annual meeting has become one of the premiere events in the specialty space, and this year’s virtual format allowed it to achieve new programming heights.

The annual NASP conference has become a can’t-miss event for specialty stakeholders to stay abreast of rapid developments in the field, offering opportunities to meet with key opinion leaders.