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2022 Data Brief | Specialty Medications

Specialty medication experience
Obstacles
& opportunities

Summary

A deeper look at the path to specialty medication experience reveals the impediments pharmacists and prescribers share. Know the barriers preventing patients from receiving informed care and a swifter start to treatment.

Insights

Specialty medications now account for more than half of medicine spending in the U.S. – which is no surprise as life sciences innovation accelerates and chronic conditions become more common. With six-figure annual price tags the norm per patient, it's become more difficult and more pressing for healthcare organizations to control their impact on overall cost and quality of care.

Beyond the expense, specialty drugs often take extra care, caution and specialized expertise to manage. Meanwhile, delays in fulfillment threaten adherence and outcomes as patients anxiously await medications needed to keep serious or chronic conditions from worsening.

But where do opportunities for improvement lie along the path from therapy to patient? Surescripts commissioned a survey to identify the challenges U.S. prescribers and patients face to keep prescriptions moving.

Key Takeaways

delivery

Missing information causes delays

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clock

Time
to therapy should
be faster

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benefits-coverage

Job stressors: accessing patient benefits & coverage

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Missing information causes delays

According to specialty pharmacists and prescribers of specialty medicines, improper or incomplete data is the top impediment to gaining prior authorization for specialty prescriptions and can delay the delivery of patient medication.

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80% of prescibers say accelerating speed to therapy is a very important benefit when seeking to enroll a patient in a specialty medication program.

Two-thirds of prescribers report that improperly filled out forms are an issue when obtaining prior authorization for specialty medications.

Three-fourths of specicalty pharmacists report that improperly filled out forms are an issue when obtaining prior authorization for specialty medications.

Time to therapy
should be faster

Both prescribers of specialty medications and specialty pharmacists believe it should take less time to start patients on specialty therapies.

How long it currently takes to get a patient started on a new specialty therapy

Prescribers of specialty medications

Delayed or denied approvals
15%
Obtaining prior autorization
15%

Specialty pharmacists

Determining if the patient's insurance will cover their prescription
12%
Delayed or denied approvals
15%
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82% of prescribers of specialty medications believe it should take two weeks or less to get a patient started on a new specialty therapy, yet just 22% say it currently takes two weeks or less.

87% of specialty pharmacists believe it should take two weeks or less to get a patient started on a new specialty therapy, but only 33% say it currently takes two weeks or less.

More than half of prescribers say the challenges of identifying the correct pharmacy to send a specialty prescription to can reduce patient medication adherence (55%) and delay the start of treatment (52%). 44% also say it creates additional administrative work.

70% of specialty pharmacists say giving patients faster access to treatment is a very important benefit of tools or portals that electronically deliver clinical information, and over half (54%) indicate that reducing time-consuming tasks is very important as well.

Accessing patient benefits & coverage is top job stressor

Across the board, obtaining prior authorization is seen as the top impediment to getting patients on a new specialty therapy, followed by limited or delayed responses from both health insurers and patients.

Most challenging day-to-day job responsibilities

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Prescribers of specialty medications

Delayed or denied approvals
15%
Obtaining prior autorization
15%
Determining if the patient's insurance will cover their prescription
12%
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Specialty pharmacists

Determining if the patient’s insurance will cover their prescription
17%
Quickly and accurately filling prescriptions
15%
Communicating with patients/caregivers
12%

98% of specialty pharmacists report that having access to patient-specific benefit information is important when dispensing specialty medications.

99% of specialty pharmacists report that having this information would provide a lot of benefit for themselves and their teams.

Supporting data &
industry insights

Drug manufacturers will launch at least 50 new active substances per year through 2025 and the majority are likely to be specialty drugs, which account for the largest proportion of new medicines launched in the past five years.

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Retail prices for widely used specialty drugs increased at more thanthree times the rate of general inflation in 2020, and one analysis found that drugmakers raised list prices an average of 6.6% in January 2022.

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1 in 5 physicians intend to leave their practice within two years, and a third of healthcare workers planned to reduce their work hours.

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Survey Background

Surescripts partnered with APCO Insight™ to conduct a survey from June 15 to July 1, 2022 to understand the opinions and attitudes of specialty pharmacists and prescribers of specialty medications on a variety of topics related to prescribing and filling specialty medications.

The survey was distributed online and over-the-phone (mixed-method). The completion rate for the survey was 88%, with a total of 501 individuals participating.

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We're helping to simplify specialty medication workflows , saving patients and those who care for them precious time.

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Additional Relevant Content

Press Release: Surescripts Transforms Patient Access to Specialty Drugs, Optimizing Adherence

Specialty Medication: How Accredo Shaved 2 Days Off Its Turnaround Time for Specialty Prescriptions

Press Release: Surescripts Innovations Help Patients Get Started on Specialty Medications Faster

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Our purpose is to serve the nation through simpler, trusted health intelligence sharing, in order to increase patient safety, lower costs and improve the quality of care. At Surescripts, we align healthcare organizations across the nation and give healthcare professionals the trusted insights they need to serve patients. We convene the Surescripts Network Alliance® to enhance prescribing, better inform care decisions and advance healthcare as a whole. Visit us at surescripts.com and follow us at twitter.com/surescripts.

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