What Cost-Effective Alternatives are There in Providing Specialty Pharmacy Care?

Patel: As we all know, industry stakeholders struggle with the continuously high costs of specialty medications. I think we all need to work together—whether it’s the prescriber or payer community, as well as the pharmacies and even pharma—to make sure that the right patient is getting the right drug.

And many times, payers impose step therapies to make sure patients have actually tried non-specialty drugs and have failed those therapies before graduating or moving on to specialty medications.

I think in the interest of helping keep the healthcare system costs low across the board, it’s the responsibility of the prescriber, and the payer, and the pharmacy, and the patient to make sure they are selecting the most appropriate clinical alternative as well as the financial alternative for that patient.

As long as the clinical conditions are mandating the use of specialty medications, it’s perfectly okay, but it’s important for prescribers and patients to work together to understand what the options are as well and the payer community to provide some guidance on step therapies and things like that to get the right drug to the right patient at the right time.