Career

The use of drug products provided by specialty pharmacies and specialty distributors is an important and growing issue for hospitals and health systems. When patients being treated with these drug products in the home setting receive care as outpatients or inpatients in hospitals or health systems, their use of these products affects many aspects of patient care and presents logistic, product integrity, and financial challenges to the health care facility. The drug acquisition and distribution practices typically used by hospitals and health systems do not integrate well with these new models of specialty or restricted distribution. This presentation focused on understanding the channels of distribution and the differences between them as well as the impact of each on the practice setting. It also addressed the growing trend by state and federal government, manufacturers, and third-party payers to closely manage the use of medications with safety concerns or high costs and the increasing sophistication of chemotherapy, biological and immunotherapy products.