“Specialty medications are high-cost prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic, or rare conditions,” explains Jeffrey Karcsh, PharmD. “Because they require special handling and significant patient education regarding appropriate utilization, they aren’t readily available at traditional retail community pharmacies. They almost always require prior authorization from insurance, and, due to the high cost of the medication, patients typically have high co-pays.”
In other words, these specialty medications can be very difficult for patients to get their hands on—and for our population at Temple Health, that was becoming a problem. The issue was especially acute because, until March of 2022, our Health System didn’t have a Specialty Pharmacy.
“That meant our physicians would prescribe these medications to patients, but we couldn’t fill them here and our patients would have to go elsewhere to fill their specialty medication,” says Karcsh, who now serves as Director of Specialty Pharmacy for Temple Health.
Temple Health leadership knew something had to be done—which is why, in March of 2022, we opened our very own Specialty Pharmacy on our Women & Families Campus. It’s now nearing its second anniversary of successful operation, with 12 full-time employees and 2,000 scripts filled a month. “We know there are so many opportunities to do more, but we’re very proud of how quickly we’ve integrated into the Health System,” says Karcsh.
Cheaper, Faster, More Transparent
This integration has led to greater ease and transparency for both patients and providers. “Our pharmacy dispensing system is fully integrated into the patient’s medical record, which virtually places us right there in the doctor’s office,” Karcsh explains. “If we need to communicate with a doctor, we can do it through Epic, right in the patient encounter. If we’re interacting with a patient and provide consultation regarding a side effect and how to manage it, we document it in Epic so it’s fully transparent.”
This is just one way the Specialty Pharmacy is dedicated to making things easier for clinicians and patients. “We have a dedicated team called the Medication Access Center that submits all prior authorizations on behalf of the provider,” says Damon Albert, PharmD, District Manager of Specialty Pharmacy Operations. “It’s a task we can take off the shoulders of the practice, and that we can do a lot more efficiently. Our turnaround time is usually within a day or two, whereas other specialty pharmacies might take weeks or more.”
“We also offer financial assistance,” Karcsh adds. “These are expensive drugs, and many of our patients have high copays. That’s why we have dedicated staff whose job it is to look for manufacturer copay cards, private grants and foundations, secondary insurances, and supplemental insurances. We make every effort, and I would say that most patients probably end up paying less than $10.”
'One Temple,' One Easy Process
Keeping each step of the process in-house—appointment, prescription, medication fill and delivery—under the same “One Temple” system has also benefitted our patients.
“If a patient who’s been coming to Temple for years gets a call from a pharmacy number they don’t recognize to pick up their medication, they might not answer it, and they may not ever end up getting that prescription filled,” says Albert. “But if our Temple Health Specialty Pharmacy calls them, they’re much more likely to see it’s a Temple number, and pick up. It sounds simple, but it’s the little things like that that make a difference in whether patients follow through on their care.”
“Our goal is to make the whole process of prescribing, prior authorization, financial assistance, and delivery”—which the Specialty Pharmacy also provides—“as smooth as possible,” Albert continues. Both he and Karcsh agree that this remains their highest priority as the Specialty Pharmacy approaches its third year of operation. Possible avenues for expansion include increased digital patient engagement, including reaching out to patients through text message and Temple MyChart to discuss side effect management and coordinate refills.
'We Would Love to See What We Can Do For You'
Above all, however, Karcsh and Albert want the rest of the Health System to know how eager the Specialty Pharmacy is to work with them. “Our goal is to continue to look for more opportunities within Temple to help more providers and their patients to find ways to get access to medication in a more seamless process,” says Karcsh. “We want to be a great resource for everyone, and to expand our presence so people know who we are and how to find us. If you’ve had an experience with us, great. If you haven’t, maybe there’s something we can do to help. Reach out to us—we would love to see what we can do for you.”
The Temple Health Specialty Pharmacy is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. It can be reached by phone at 215-707-2888 or via email here.