by Angela Maas
With an eye on reducing spending and improving care among
members with hemophilia, Highmark Inc. will launch a comprehensive program
focused on the condition on Jan. 1. The health plan will partner exclusively
with three companies — Option Care Health, Inc., Soleo Health and the
Hemophilia Center of Western Pennsylvania — on the initiative, which has the
potential to improve member care, reduce costs and cut down on fraud, waste and
abuse.
Highmark chose hemophilia to focus on for a few reasons, says
Sean Burke, manager of specialty pharmacy services at the plan. "We have a
pretty comparatively high population" of people with hemophilia, and
"clients were coming to us" for effective management strategies. New
therapies — as well as a crowded pipeline — mean there is "a big
opportunity to potentially save money."
Of Highmark's 4.5 million members, approximately 190 have a
hemophilia diagnosis, and the health plan says it spends about $80 million
annually on their care, with pharmacy costs making up about 90% of that.
The partners will be able to obtain the therapies at competitive
rates, in large part because they "have more volume," says Ned Finn,
director of specialty pharmacy services at the insurer.
Highmark and the providers have performance guarantees and
oversight protocols in place. Plan members not only will receive better care,
but members and health plan clients will see potential cost savings of
"15% or so," says Burke.
"There are a number of guarantees," Drew Walk, Soleo's
CEO, says, that are "focused on reducing waste and overall cost of
care," as well as "improving patient outcomes.…There are clinical and
financial outcomes measurements." Hemophilia is a "unique"
condition which requires "monitoring individual patient response," he
notes. The key, he maintains, is to "not be too obtrusive" in
management but to "intervene when necessary and provide a good patient
experience. It's more than just dispensing the product."
If a product experiences a shortage or goes off the market
temporarily, "we have direct lines of communication with the
providers" to handle the situation, says Burke. "These pharmacies are
very experienced with knowing how to handle this.
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