IDENTIFICATION OF PRESCRIPTION DRUG COVERAGE AND ELIGIBILITY FOR PATIENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS

To advocate that pharmacists or pharmacy technicians ensure that the use of patient assistance programs is optimized and documented to promote continuity of care and patient access to needed medications; further,

To advocate that patient assistance programs should incorporate the pharmacist-patient relationship, including evaluation by a pharmacist as part of comprehensive medication management; further,

To support the principle that medications provided through manufacturer patient assistance programs should be stored, packaged, labeled, dispensed, and recorded using systems that ensure the same level of safety as prescription-based programs that incorporate a pharmacist-patient relationship.

Rationale

Ensuring patients’ medication histories are accurate and continuity of medication therapies is a critical role for pharmacists to monitor and document as patients transition through the healthcare system. Additionally, pharmacists have an important role in ensuring patients have means to access their medications, both upon hospital admission and discharge. With the numerous channels patients use to obtain their medications, it has become increasingly difficult to verify this information and in some cases obtain the medications needed to care for a patient.

Patient assistance programs (PAPs) present a unique challenge for healthcare providers. Documentation of the utilization of a PAP by a patient is important information for providers accessing the patient electronic health record, and improving that documentation should be a priority for healthcare providers. Additionally, pharmacists need to provide leadership in facilitating the utilization of PAPs to ensure continuity of care, the patient’s ability to access needed medications when appropriate, and a comprehensive pharmacist-patient relationship.