By Mackenzie Smith, CPhT, Specialty Pharmacy Liaison at CPS

Being a CPS specialty pharmacy liaison means I have the opportunity to ensure an excellent specialty medication experience for patients and providers every day. I get to work onsite in a health system’s neurology clinic directly with our clinical pharmacist, medical assistants, nurses, and doctors as a vital part of the care team.

Supporting Patients & Providers to Improve Medication Access

As a specialty pharmacy liaison, I ensure patients can afford and have access to their therapies. This includes helping patients find financial assistance, shipping medications directly to their home, coordinating deliveries via reminder calls when it is time for a refill, and working closely with their providers to get prescription refills in a timely manner.

Patients are normally amazed by the in-depth services we provide. Many patients have had challenging experiences filling their medications or getting support from call-center pharmacies in the past, so they are grateful to be able to work directly with me and our pharmacist right in their clinic.

When providers see the “Specialty Pharmacy” flag in a patient’s EHR profile, they know that they can rely on me to initiate prior authorizations, sign patients up for financial assistance, and provide a helping hand in navigating the many insurance rules and regulations.

A Typical Day as a Specialty Pharmacy Liaison at CPS

My day usually starts with in-office appointments (or over the past year, video chats) with new patients to introduce myself and the services offered by the health system’s specialty pharmacy service. In between appointments, I connect patients who need clinical support to my pharmacist counterpart, and call patients who need refills to set up their next medication delivery. I am also in constant contact with providers to help with anything they may need related to specialty medications.

A typical day also entails managing prescription refills, submitting prior authorization requests, and applying to financial assistance programs. I also check our online Fund Finder daily for available patient assistance programs, including The Assistance Fund for our Epilepsy patients and The Patient Advocate Foundation for a multitude of different diagnoses.

An Opportunity to Make an Impact

Working as part of an embedded health system specialty pharmacy team provides the best of both worlds in that I am able to support both the patients and the providers. If you want to learn more about being a specialty pharmacy liaison, contact us.