New Rare Disease Program Offers Support Service, Guidance for Patients

Patients with rare diseases often face a difficult and long diagnosis and treatment process. Express Scripts recently announced a new Rare Conditions Care Value (RCCV) program that includes the introduction of a support service known as Second Opinion, which offers guidance and expert case review for patients on an individual basis, with PinnacleCare.

Specifically, the Second Opinion service would address the challenges patients with rare diseases face through reducing the emotional, physical, and financial burden on patients. These burdens are often associated with misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatments, which can create not only a large financial burden but heavily influence a patient’s quality of life.

"The years spent going to different doctors, getting myriad medical tests, managing paperwork and experimenting with numerous treatments is an ordeal for patients and their health, as well as for those who love and care for them," Glen Stettin, MD, senior vice president of clinical, research, and new solutions at Express Scripts, said in a statement.

Click to continue reading on The American Journal of Managed Care.