Asembia

Improving health equity is part of the core of quality improvement and requires data collection and community engagement strategies for underserved populations, said Shawn Griffin, MD, president and CEO of URAC.

Key trends and challenges are shaping the next era of advanced therapies, from FDA momentum to broader patient access.

Strategic relationships and feedback can enhance specialty pharmacy operations, said Natalie Bedford, senior vice president of US pharmaceutical distribution services at McKesson.

Balancing technology and patient care can enhance communication and data collection, improving adherence and outcomes in specialty pharmacy, said Kathi Henson, MBA, of Orsini.

At Asembia’s AXS25 Summit, industry experts explored how pharmacy is evolving to meet rising patient expectations and navigate a shifting health care environment.

As the number of cell and gene therapies expands, it's increasingly important for long-term patient data, explained Fran Gregory, PharmD, MBA, vice president of emerging therapies at Cardinal Health.

New treatments for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and diabetic macular edema (DME) enhance patient care with gene therapies and new mechanisms of action on the horizon, explained Casey Koch, PharmD, from Select Health.

Evaluating the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will require real-time data and effective therapy metrics, explained H. John Beardsley, MBA, of CoverMyMeds; and Fauzea Hussain, MPH, of McKesson.

With artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities freeing up workers and driving billions in gains, pharmacy may soon see a 75% workload drop.

Early actions by the new administration signal major changes in health policy, taxes, and pharmaceutical pricing.

Asembia's AXS25 Summit will unite more than 8000 key decision-makers to explore pharmacy innovation, artificial intelligence, policy, and patient care from April 27 to May 1 at Wynn & Encore in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Presentations at the 2024 Asembia Specialty Pharmacy Summit focused on reshaping specialty pharmacy while keeping patients front and center.

Patients on specialty medications may face many barriers that prevent them from getting on or staying on therapy, but a specialty pharmacy integrated into a health system can help address these issues, explained Ryan Nix, PharmD, MMHC, of Vanderbilt Specialty Pharmacy.

Innovation in the specialty pipeline, drug costs, health care policy updates, and collaboration were key topics at this year's Asembia Specialty Pharmacy Summit.

In 2024, the Asembia Specialty Pharmacy Summit celebrated 20 years and speakers highlighted the conversations around improving access and affordability taking place at the meeting.

In a session during the final full day of conference activity at AXS24, experts from CVS Health and Surescripts emphasized the need to simplify the prescribing workflow for specialty medication through proactive messaging, automation, and interoperability.

While the novel payment models for expensive cell and gene therapies have been effective, they need to continue evolving, said Joe DePinto, MBA, of McKesson.

Representatives from ICON plc and Symphony Health joined forces at AXS24 to discuss the challenges of managing high-cost specialty drugs and how they influence self-funded employer benefit plan design and employee access to specialty medications.

In the US, a disease is considered rare when it affects fewer than 200,000 persons, or 1 in every 1500 individuals, with an estimated total of 25 to 30 million Americans overall living with a rare disease at any given time.

The health-system specialty pharmacy has the unique ability to coordinate better with the provider and take a team approach that reduces the chances of dropping the ball on the patient’s care.

There are multiple levers that need to be pulled to allow biosimilars to come to market more broadly in the US, explained Fran Gregory, PharmD, MBA, vice president of emerging therapies, Cardinal Health.

Doug Long, MBA, vice president of industry relations at IQVIA, covered a bevy of stakeholder investment–related topics in his presentation at AXS24 on trends in specialty pharmacy, chief among them challenges facing the industry, obesity medications, generics and biosimilars, new product launches, and the outlook for the US market.

When the same product comes to market with additional indications, irrational pricing decisions result in ever-increasing prices instead of volume translating to lower costs, said Jon Mahrt, MBA, of OptumRX.

Optum Life Sciences and Takeda Pharmaceuticals are partnering on an innovative virtual care pilot program for inflammatory bowel disease meant to both continue the mission of the current value-based health care landscape and raise the bar for personalized care delivery optimization.

The real-time monitoring of patients through medically integrated dispensing (MID) programs can reduce costs of care and remove barriers, said Christie Smith, PharmD, MBA, vice president, pharmacy and payer strategy, Cencora.

Just as it is important for retail analysts to understand the choices their customers make and why they may choose not to purchase a specific item, so is it important for the specialty pharmacy industry to understand the actions of prescribers and how the often inefficient prior authorization process affects patient outcomes.

Payer coverage of biosimilars is always shifting as new ones come to market, explained Tasmina Hydery, PharmD, MBA, BCGP, associate director in digital solutions, Cencora.

Asembia AXS24, which has record registration this year, will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, April 28-May 2, at the Wynn & Encore Las Vegas.

During their session at Asembia’s AXS24, Sarah Butler and Lindsay Greenleaf of ADVI Health will examine the current status of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and future considerations in health care in the context of the upcoming presidential election.

The most popular content from our Asembia coverage largely covered biosimilars.