What happens when: a large health system builds a specialty pharmacy… quickly… cost effectively… with revenue generating goals in sight. 

Hint: With a comprehensive playbook developed from the CPS® experts, they now have a modern, high-performing specialty pharmacy operation that is staged for growth.

The Situation

A large health system in the southeast with a double-digit number of hospitals and other related healthcare outlets and organizations turned to CPS when they were ready to build their own specialty pharmacy. Our experts quickly assessed the organization system-wide, custom designed a plan just right for them, and built the specialty pharmacy. Here’s the playbook that launched one of the best health system pharmacies for one of the largest regional health systems in the country.

The Solution

The CPS team took a deep and broad dive into the health system’s operations, and ultimately provided a package of deliverables that covered the past, the present and the future of specialty pharmacy for this hospital system, with the following run of play:

1. Audited and assessed their systemic pharmacy needs
2. Developed detailed findings and recommendations into a comprehensive playbook
3. Built the physical specialty pharmacy based on the playbook and all the systems, processes, staff, training, and marketing needed to succeed
4. Empowered them moving forward with short-, mid- and longer-term goals and recommendations to sustain and grow their high performing pharmacy operation

There was considerable background work behind all of the above, such as:

Tech-Powered Operations:

On the tech-supported operational front, we helped design the pharmacy call flow. We also designed and implemented their patient therapy management platform from our sister company, TherigySTM.

Liaison Program:

To power prescriber engagement and provide patient education support, we put together a staffing plan that included liaisons that rotate among clinics, which ultimately leads to more satisfied patients, better clinical outcomes through medication compliance, higher script volumes and stronger financial performance, too.

Accreditation:

CPS achieved the important first accreditation for the specialty pharmacy, building a strong operation designed to win dual accreditation, which a critically important next step in the evolution of their specialty pharmacy. Dual accreditation demonstrates to payors, drug manufacturers and other key stakeholders that the specialty pharmacy is qualified to be an important component of providing quality patient care with highly trained, expert personnel driven by effective policies, procedures, and advanced technology.

Marketing:

When CPS builds out a specialty pharmacy, we provide a marketing package of materials to help launch and grow the new pharmacy, which initially includes general high-level marketing materials such as a capabilities presentation, physician and patient brochures, and one-page leave behinds related to pharmacy services.

What's Next For This Hospital:

The successful launch of this new specialty pharmacy was just the beginning. As part of our comprehensive process, the CPS team created a go-forward plan to optimize the specialty pharmacy in their ongoing pursuit to achieve new levels of clinical, financial and operational excellence across these five pillars:

1. CLINICAL MANAGEMENT to support and expand into new patient management programs by specialty
2. OPERATIONS to integrate all pharmacy touch points and work efficiently and effectively
3. PAYOR RELATIONS AND DRUG ACCESS to continually wave in more payors to expand patient access to needed specialty drugs
4. DRUG MANUFACTURER RELATIONS to gain access to an ever-increasing number of limited distribution drugs
5. MARKETING SUPPORT to build the brand, engage key stakeholders (patients, prescribers, payors, manufacturers; etc.), and grow broader market share.