The University of Louisville Hospital, a nationally recognized metropolitan research university, and Comprehensive Pharmacy Services (CPS), the nation’s leading provider of pharmacy services for hospitals and health systems, announced today that they have signed an agreement to design, build and manage specialty pharmacy services for the University of Louisville Hospital (UofL). CPS Ambulatory and Specialty Pharmacy Solutions assists hospital pharmacies across the country in meeting the growing demand for specialty drugs, navigating the complexities of ambulatory pharmacy services and delivering better care to patients requiring specialty medications.
“We couldn’t be more excited about this partnership with CPS,” said Ken Marshall, CEO of UofL Hospital. “Together we are on track to create a hospital-owned specialty pharmacy that provides the highest level of quality care to our patients across the multiple hospital facilities on our campus.”
Even though less than two percent of patients require these drugs, by 2020 specialty medications are projected to represent more than 50 percent of medication expenditures, topping $400 billion.
As the need for specialty medications continues to escalate, health systems and hospitals are looking to CPS Ambulatory and Specialty Pharmacy Solutions to help build or expand existing specialty pharmacy services in order to effectively treat and coordinate care services for patients with complex chronic diseases. The CPS model, where the hospital owns the pharmacy but can rely in whole or in part on CPS’ expert team, allows the hospital to benefit from significant additional revenues and improved patient care and lower overall costs. CPS brings a deep and broad level of expertise to the entire process, including:
- Drafting a specialty pharmacy strategy;
- Designing the specialty pharmacy space;
- Implementing the infrastructure;
- Obtaining accreditations;
- Eliminating issues related to limited distribution drugs and payors;
- Training staff;
- Managing the facility going forward.
“The need for specialty drugs is placing greater demands on hospital pharmacies than we’ve ever seen,” said Jody Miller, President, Ambulatory and Specialty Pharmacy Solutions for CPS, who has been leading specialty pharmacy for a decade. “We work hand-in-hand with hospital pharmacy leaders to create custom solutions that fit the unique needs of each pharmacy. Our goal is to establish a best-in-class specialty pharmacy that drives improved patient care and higher revenues while reducing the total cost of care.”
