October 19, 2020

On October 19, Texas Children’s Specialty Pharmacy celebrated another milestone with a brand new, specially designed space that will enhance operational efficiency and service to more than 1,700 patients. The Specialty Pharmacy’s call center and dispensing operations moved from the Abercrombie and Mark A. Wallace Tower buildings to its new home on the eighth floor of the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (NRI).

“Previously, the Specialty Pharmacy dispensing team worked from the Abercrombie basement in small rooms making work flow processes difficult,” said Josephine Hurtado, Director for Specialty Pharmacy. “Additionally, the operation had so many manual workflows requiring checks and balances to be in place to minimize the opportunity for error. Not only is the new space at the NRI ergonomic and lean, new technology from McKesson HVS has been implemented to improve the prescription filling process such as integrated bar code technology and workflow automation which guarantees efficiency and the safest patient care. The team is excited to embark on this new endeavor.”

Specialty Pharmacy began four years ago and serves numerous clinics including Neurology, Endocrine, Rheumatology, Pulmonary, Renal, Hematology-Oncology, Dermatology, Gastroenterology, Retrovirology, Pulmonary Hypertension, Transplant Services, Allergy and Immunology, Prader-Willi, and also serves Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus and Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands.

The Specialty Pharmacy team provides service to many patients with complex and chronic conditions that require comprehensive, ongoing communication and management for their medications which are typically expensive. The team collaborates with physicians to manage medication-related issues as part of the plan of care. Texas Children’s Specialty Pharmacy patients have direct access to pharmacists who are dedicated liaisons to assist them in navigating the many complex aspects of specialty drugs including insurance authorization, financial assistance and therapy adherence.

For over the last several months, the Specialty Pharmacy team has been engaged in the design of the new space and have considered every aspect of the project to bring this massive undertaking to fruition.

“Every detail has been addressed in the most thoughtful manner,” said Rosemary Nguyen, assistant director of Specialty Pharmacy. “This expansion will enable us expand our patient volume and to provide the best patient care. The ability to improve our workflows allows the team to continue to focus on improving health outcomes by reducing the administrative burdens that patients typically experience with specialty medications and therefore provide an extraordinary level of service and patient experience as part of an overall plan of care.”

March 27, 2018

Texas Children’s Specialty Pharmacy program has received accreditation from the Utilization Review Accreditation Commission (URAC) and Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC). This accreditation helps the Specialty Pharmacy position itself and demonstrate its value in delivering specialized clinical services.

“This is a remarkable accomplishment and will allow us the opportunity to gain access to care for patients with commercial payers,” said Jeff Wagner, Director of Pharmacy.

Texas Children’s Specialty Pharmacy opened in September of 2016, and was established to handle convenient plan of care management, and other services specific to patients with serious illnesses.

The pharmacy is an outpatient service, available to any eligible patients at Texas Children’s Main Campus and West Campus. More specifically, to patients and international patients who are seen by Texas Children’s providers and who have Medicaid/Medicare, TCH Health Plan, and CHIP as their health plan. It allows families to fill their specialty medications (and other retail medications) at the hospital, through free mail delivery, or in-person pick-up which is solely located at the Mark Wallace Tower Outpatient Pharmacy.

“Many of the patients in our care face challenges in medication access in the community,” said Wagner. “Ultimately, we are ideally positioned to address this gap in access and care with the Specialty Pharmacy.”

To differentiate from other pharmacies, there are Specialty Pharmacists embedded within Texas Children’s Hospital outpatient clinics to counsel patients taking specialty medications. They also provide ongoing monitoring of their specialty therapy and coordinate pharmacotherapy needs with physician/clinic teams. There is also a call center that provides proactive refill management for specialty pharmacy patients.

Recently the pharmacy staff created a patient satisfaction survey that resulted in positive data that reaffirms how the Specialty Pharmacy continues to be efficient and accessible, all while meeting patient needs in the most effective way possible.

“I love having the medications delivered to our home,” said one survey participant. “It just makes things simpler when I forget to pick my meds up or just can’t go get them.”

Along with productivity and being able to provide the necessary medications, patients also expressed the high level of professionalism and customer service that comes from the staff throughout the department.

“I have a great team of passionate people who strive to provide the best care possible for our patients! They are a joy to work with on a daily basis, said Stephen Davis, Specialty Pharmacy Manager. “They challenge and inspire me at the same time. I provide support, guidance, and leadership to my team. I empower them to make informed decisions and assist them with troubleshooting and problem-solving.”

Texas Children’s Specialty Pharmacy has expanded into almost a dozen clinics since it opened and has positively impacted hundreds of patients in that short time.

“The Specialty Pharmacy has supported Texas Children’s Hospital’s mission, and the impact this service has had over 1,000 patients is breathtaking,” said Wagner. “The engagement of families in the planning of these services, and the feedback we have received to date has been absolutely remarkable.”

The accreditation covers all clinics supported by Texas Children’s Specialty Pharmacy and is a major ingredient in its success moving forward. The pharmacy will have to be reaccredited again in another three years.

“Accreditation will help in our ability to offer this service to all patients of Texas Children’s Hospital, and even beyond,” Wagner said. “The ultimate goal is to be able to offer Specialty Pharmacy Services for all patients, regardless of payer.”

As of 2018, the pharmacy has currently rolled out into the following 11 clinics within Main Campus:

Dermatology
Endocrine
Gastroenterology
Hematology
Neurology
Oncology
Prader-Willi
Pulmonary
Renal
Rheumatology
Transplant

As well as the following four clinics within West Campus:

Cancer Center
Endocrine
Gastroenterology
Rheumatology

In 2018, Texas Children’s Specialty Pharmacy will expand services to include the Complex Care clinic and the Allergy and Immunology clinic. Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands will receive specialty pharmacy services during the summer of 2018. The Specialty Pharmacy is currently working towards acquiring additional contracts in order to serve more patients with commercial insurance.

“In order to ensure that Texas Children’s Specialty Pharmacy is able to continue to serve our patients, we are actively working towards acquiring additional space in order to support the anticipated growth,” said Davis. “In the future, I envision Texas Children’s Specialty Pharmacy providing mail-order service to all patients within the state of Texas and outside the state of Texas.”