WASHINGTON — The Center for Pharmacy Practice Accreditation (CPPA) plans to develop an accreditation program for specialty pharmacy practices.
CPPA said Thursday that the program reflects the growing need and market for specialty medications and related services.
The group noted that specialty pharmacy practices provide high-impact patient care services, with patient medication outcomes and adherence managed in collaboration with doctors and disease-specific therapy management (DTP) programs delivered to minimize adverse events and maximize patient safety and outcomes.
"CPPA is excited to announce the development of a specialty pharmacy accreditation program," Lynnae Mahaney, executive director of CPPA, said in a statement. "The market share for specialty pharmaceuticals is increasing quickly, and many health systems and community pharmacies are showing interest in beginning their own specialty pharmacy practices."
Estimated costs for specialty pharmaceutical agents will top $260 billion by the end of this year, according to IMS Health data cited by CPPA. IMS’ 2012-2013 Economic Report on the Retail, Mail, and Specialty Pharmacies projected that by 2016, eight of the top 10 best-selling drugs, by revenue, will be specialty medications, and these drugs will represent 31% of U.S. pharmacy industry revenues.
Specialty drugs treat diseases in therapeutic categories such as oncology, autoimmune/immune or inflammatory conditions marked by long-term or severe symptoms, side effects or increased fatality. CPPA noted that these drugs typically are high in cost ($600 or more per month); entail complex treatment regimens needing ongoing clinical monitoring and patient education; have special handling, storage or delivery requirements; are generally biologically derived and available in injectable, infusible or oral form; and often have limited or exclusive product availability and distribution.
"CPPA will be able to develop the new specialty pharmacy standards quickly and efficiently with our existing standards development methodology, infrastructure and network of specialty pharmacy expertise," Mahaney added. "CPPA will also be able to provide a more complete line of accreditation programs for organizations with multiple types of pharmacy practices."
A nonprofit organization, CPPA is a partnership between the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) to develop and implement comprehensive programs of pharmacy practice site accreditation.
