Decoding gene therapy: Current impact and future considerations for health-system and specialty pharmacy practice.

Purpose: To provide health systems with baseline knowledge on existing and pipeline gene therapy treatments, including considerations that health-system pharmacies and specialty pharmacy programs may reference when evaluating and implementing services around gene therapies.

Summary: Advancements in research and biotechnology have recently led to the development and launch of the first commercially available gene therapy treatments in the United States. These treatments have the ability to significantly alter and even effectively cure diseases.

Navigating the Wild West of Medication Adherence Reporting in Specialty Pharmacy.

Estimating medication adherence through the use of pharmacy claims-based adherence calculations such as medication possession ratio (MPR) and proportion of days covered (PDC) plays a significant role in specialty pharmacy practice. Although MPR and PDC are frequently used in clinical practice, calculation methodologies vary, making meaningful comparisons of adherence rates difficult. In addition, MPR and PDC are increasingly used by insurance companies, pharmacies, accrediting bodies, and drug manufacturers to demonstrate quality differences or clinical benefit across the specialty pharmacy industry.