August 2023
Dear Colleagues,
Hope everyone is enjoying his or her summer. After attending the ASHP Summer Meeting, I am excited about the plans the Executive Committee developed for this coming year for the Section of Specialty Pharmacy Practitioners (SSPP). The Summer Meeting always re-energizes me; the opportunity to network with peers and to learn from one another inspires me to bring these learnings back to my team to see how we implement these into our practice. I am honored and proud to serve as your SSPP Chair for 2023-2024. This Section amazes me with all the dedication and work that over 100 volunteers commit their time to help develop pieces for the charges given to them each year for each Section Advisory Group (SAG). The growth in membership demonstrates the growth and relevance of specialty pharmacies to health systems. Thank you for the opportunity to lead this Section this year!
I would like to send a thank you to the executive committee that led this section past year, including Scott Canfield as the Chair, for the knowledge and leadership that he provided to keep the team on track to discuss relevant topics facing specialty pharmacy today. To Tara Kelley, immediate-past Chair for her dedication and support of the Section. To the Directors-at-Large, Erica Diamantides and Ashley Ryther, for their support this past year. I am excited to be working with the newly inducted member of the Executive Committee, Debbie Duckworth, Director-at-Large, and the soon newly elected members. The results of the election will be in August. In addition, I would like to thank Vivian Johnson for being our Board of Directors liaison, and for giving us your guidance and leadership. A special thank you to the ASHP staff that support the section, David Chen and Gabrielle (Gabby) Pierce. Gabby has so much energy, and excitement for this section, every time the executive committee meets her passion helps drive the mission of this section.
Welcome to all new SAG Chairs and Vice Chairs. I appreciate the volunteers that dedicate their time and knowledge to help lead the SAGs to develop podcasts, webinars, toolkits, white papers, and needed resources for section members. With the ever-changing landscape of healthcare, including specialty pharmacy, new changes to the SAGs this year include a new name for the Operational and Workforce Development SAG and new charges for both that group and the Business Development SAG. I cannot wait to see what these groups do for the Section.
SSPP Section Advisory Groups:
- Accreditation and Compliance (Chair Chelsea Maier, Vice Chair Mark Herring) advises, develops, and supports specialty pharmacies on excellence in accreditation, quality improvement, and regulatory compliance.
- Business Development (Chair Megan McGugan, Vice Chair Dana Harman) advises, identifies, and develops a strategy and vision for the long-term success and sustainability of specialty pharmacy.
- Outcomes and Value (Chair Jennifer Loucks, Vice Chair Thom Platt) will help to identify and develop resources to help members excel in clinical, quality, economic, and humanistic outcomes, as well as develop standardized benchmarking around key specialty disease states.
- Operational and Workforce Development (Chair Kristel Geyer, Vice Chair Heather Dalton) will identify and develop resources to assist members to build an innovative health-system specialty pharmacy practice, which includes operational workflows and staffing models.
These are just the highlights of the charges for each SAG, to read the comprehensive list please visit: SSPP Section Advisory Groups - SAGs (ashp.org)
The Executive Committee met during the Summer Meeting and we had a great conversation to reflect on all the work this Section has done. We discussed what our members need, how specialty pharmacy has changed over the years, and whether we are meeting the needs of all members ranging from newly formed specialty pharmacies to well-established programs. Not only has the Executive Committee updated some of the SAG charges, but we also want to expand our discussions and resources for specialty pharmacy to include management of infusions, biosimilars, rare diseases, cell and gene therapies, and work on advocacy for specialty pharmacy. The Section needs to continuously change as the needs of our members change.
For example, over the past few months, the Section has collaborated with the Section of Pharmacy Practice Leaders and the Pharmacy Executive Leadership Alliance to hold virtual roundtable sessions on home infusion, with one more session occurring in October. Home infusion has been growing in the past few years mainly due to the growth in specialty infused medications and with the site of care restrictions, home infusion is one of the solutions to offer to your patients. With the growth of specialty medications hitting the market over the past 10 years, specialty medications account for 51% of drugs today. We need to ask ourselves if specialty pharmacy is a separate business line or if specialty pharmacy is truly just part of our daily outpatient pharmacy. Health-System Pharmacies are uniquely positioned to take care of these complex patients; they have a relationship with the providers, and most share the same EMR system and are an extension of the provider's practice. Our pharmacists and pharmacy technicians can help the patient navigate the complexity of specialty pharmacy to help them get the vital care they need.
As I reflect on specialty pharmacy, all I can think of are all the changes and constant challenges we face to take care of our patients. The challenges can become opportunities, but we need to be creative and flexible with our daily practices in specialty. I like to say; let us make lemonade out of lemons. This past year we were faced with manufacturer restrictions around 340B, to participate in some payer networks we now need to join some of the newly formed PSAOs, and the continued management of the brown, white, and clearing bagging. In addition, the continuous challenges we face with narrow networks, limited distribution models, site of care restrictions, and the never-ending problems with drug shortages. I just ask myself what is next. However, with the wealth of knowledge and the creativity of this section, I have confidence we will develop recommendations that our members can use to face these challenges head-on.
Again thank you for the opportunity to lead this section this year! I cannot wait to see all the great work that the Section Advisory Groups and Educational Steering Committee will accomplish.
Best Regards,
Denise Scarpelli, PharmD, MBA
Chair, Section of Specialty Pharmacy Practitioners (2023-2024)
[email protected]