Dean Riggott Photography
Surescripts
Imagine being forced to take a detour every time you get in your car. That would be a frustrating experience, right?
Thanks to innovations in GPS systems and real-time navigation apps, this scenario is avoidable. Without even pushing a button, our phone maps out the most efficient way to get from point A to point B.
Until recently, specialty pharmacists faced detours daily.
In a recent survey, Surescripts found that they seek out additional information from prescribers to fill a prescription five or more times a day.
And detours add up. Administrative tasks like phone calls and paper forms add stress to the specialty pharmacist’s experience, interfere with patient care and delay filling or shipping prescriptions. But like the upgrades in car navigation technology, tools to improve the specialty medication journey have also emerged.
Remapping the Specialty Medication Journey
Physicians and pharmacists are already seeing the impact—like cutting the turnaround time to complete a prescription by nearly two days.
In July 2020, Accredo specialty pharmacy partnered with Surescripts and Point-of-Care Partners to assess the impact of advanced technology across the specialty prescribing and fulfilment process. The results show that these digital tools are having a serious impact on patients and providers alike. Here’s a snapshot of what we achieved:
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Improved Prescription Turnaround Time
The process of filling a prescription for a specialty medication is much more complex than filling a regular prescription and can take days or even weeks to get a patient started on a specialty medication. But with Surescripts Specialty Patient Enrollment and Specialty Medications Gateway, we reduced the prescription turnaround time by nearly two days.
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Fewer Phone Calls
Specialty prescriptions usually require specialty pharmacists to call the prescriber looking for missing clinical data, like diagnosis or weight. But after introducing automation into the prescribing process, calls and messages to prescribers dropped considerably and freed up our staff to spend more time with patients. Accredo saw a 44% reduction in calls to prescribers’ offices related to missing clinical data with Specialty Medications Gateway.
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Improved Dispense Rate
When there are delays in dispensing, patients are more likely to simply give up or second-guess the therapy, which can then lead to life-threatening or serious adverse events. Accredo increased our dispense rate 14% with the use of Specialty Medications Gateway and Specialty Patient Enrollment.
Undoubtedly, the future of specialty prescribing and fulfillment is here, thanks to the help of advanced technology. By improving access to critical data, creating seamless communication channels and optimizing workflows with these new tools, we’re improving the prescribing journey for physicians, pharmacists and patients alike.
Katie Reeves is a senior product manager at Accredo Specialty Pharmacy.
Read “Remapping the Specialty Medication Journey” to learn more about the impact of Surescripts specialty solutions for providers, and more importantly patients.
