A coordinated care ecosystem for complex conditions
Enhancing a center of excellence model to optimize care for specialty pharmacy patients
With a background in operations spanning more than 25 years, Clayton Edwards leads the implementation of patientcentered solutions to help AllianceRx Walgreens Prime transform care while improving operational efficiencies and costs.
Tell us about AllianceRx Walgreens Prime’s Specialty360 Therapy Teams. What are these teams responsible for, and how do they further enhance the patient experience?
CE: As a specialty and home delivery pharmacy, we serve people with chronic, complex therapeutic needs that require a higher level of personalized attention. From our inception we decided to take a different approach to managing these conditions and delivering exceptional value to patients, providers and payers. Our dedicated, multi-disciplinary teams of highly trained professionals provide comprehensive, coordinated patient care. We have re-introduced these teams to the market as our Specialty360 Therapy Teams. Today, there are eleven Specialty360 Therapy Teams dedicated to specific therapeutic areas, including oncology, hemophilia, pulmonary conditions, fertility, immune disorders, HAE, PKD and ERT. Other conditions such as neurological, behavioral health and rare and orphan diseases are also managed in a similar fashion. Our 1,000+ clinical and patient support specialists include pharmacists, nurses, financial service reps, infusion therapy specialists and patient care advocates who work together to anticipate and address patient needs. These teams not only provide best-in-class clinical care, but also encompass supportive services to provide a true 360-degree care model. Cystic fibrosis, a highly complex and potentially life-threatening condition, is an example of why this approach is important and how it can make a difference. There are 80 experts on our Specialty360 Cystic Fibrosis team devoted to helping patients throughout their treatment journey, with the ultimate goal of optimizing care. This specialized team works together with the prescribing physician to support a range of needs, including facilitating prompt access to treatment, navigating insurance claims and addressing nutritional deficits.
What is the benefit of a center of excellence model when it comes to managing different disease states?
CE: Our Specialty360 Therapy Teams provide surroundsound support that can help improve a patient’s quality of life. Using a center of excellence model to manage different disease states is a key pillar of our patient-centric approach to pharmacy services. Our Specialty360 Therapy Teams are centered around the patient and create a seamless experience. We often hear from our patients about the importance of flexibility when managing their condition. As a result, we’ve adopted a digital-first approach that allows us to meet patients where they are. Our support services are available 24/7 in their preferred mode of communication. Our condition-specific clinical assessments are an industry leading example of this. The initial assessment is completed via phone for new patients with one of our specialists. Return patients now have the option to complete their questions digitally instead of phone interaction. This enables our team members to focus each subsequent experience on the patient’s current needs. Our goal is to make each interaction as simple as possible while obtaining the most clinically relevant information to ensure the patient is progressing on their treatment plan.
What do AllianceRx Walgreens Prime’s Specialty360 Therapy Teams of the future look like for improving patient care? How will they continue to evolve?
CE: Over the next year, we will build our gene and cell therapy patient support, allowing us to meet a broader range of patient needs. To continue providing comprehensive care, our staff will expand to include new roles of social workers, dieticians and case managers to support custom patient interventions that integrate directly into a health plans case management area to provide a more real-time integrated view of the patient. We will also enhance our digital capabilities by providing patients with two-way chat and video conference options when interacting with our teams. The needs of our patients will continue to evolve. We are committed to developing innovative ways to enhance their experience so they can focus on what’s most important – their health.