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Many 340B hospital professionals want to know how to operate an efficient specialty pharmacy that improves patient health outcomes. This week, we are joined by Betty Fang, director of ambulatory, specialty, and retail pharmacy at AdventHealth Great Lakes Region, formerly part of AMITA Health. Betty discusses how she helped lead a team that embedded specialty pharmacists into an oncology clinic. The team researched how the initiative improved patient health outcomes and increased 340B savings to reinvest in patient care. Before the interview, we provide several news updates on the contract pharmacy dispute and the release of 340B Health’s second annual health equity report. 

The Importance of Specialty Medications 

Betty explains the types of diseases that specialty medications treat and how 340B savings help hospitals provide these specialty drugs.

Embedding Specialty Pharmacists into Clinics

Betty shares how her health system placed specialty pharmacy staff directly into the oncology clinic. She also describes her research to measure the initiative’s success.  

Increasing 340B Savings to Invest in Patient Care 

Embedding specialty pharmacists into a clinic helps the pharmacy have better visibility into the process of connecting patients to their prescriptions. Betty’s research found this boosted the amount of 340B savings the health system could obtain to help support more patient care. She also analyzes the challenges of embedding specialty pharmacists into clinics and what the next trend in specialty pharmacy might be. 

Check out all of our episodes on the 340B Insight podcast website. You also can stay updated on all 340B Health news and information by visiting our homepage. If you have any questions you’d like us to cover in this podcast, email us at [email protected].

Resources

1. 340B Health and Hospital Associations’ Amicus Briefs in Federal Appeals Courts Regarding the Contract Pharmacy Dispute 
2. 340B Health Statement on Bausch Health Restricting 340B Discounts Through Community-Based Pharmacies 
3. 340B Health Statement on HRSA Enforcement Letter to UCB Regarding Contract Pharmacy Restrictions 
4. 340B Health’s Second Annual Health Equity Report 
5. SP Onc PharmDs Bolster 340B, New Med Access
6. 340B Coalition Summer Conference 2022