Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy, the nation's largest privately held specialty pharmacy company, is on a mission to help patients obtain the financial assistance they need to purchase life-saving drugs for such illnesses as cancer, HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C, as well as drugs for Multiple Sclerosis, kidney disease and other chronic conditions.
"Diplomat's specialty patients average better than 90% adherence to their medications, while the national average is 50-70% for chronic medicines. Still, we can't address the adherence issue with these patients when they don't have the drug to begin with," says Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy President and CEO Phil Hagerman, RPh.
In 2009, Diplomat's staff obtained a company record $12.1 million in funding (known in the industry as co-pay assistance) for 6,664 patients who were seeking assistance, up from $9.2 million for 4,203 patients in 2008. Many of the requests come from the Company's patient call center, which works nearly round the clock to answer questions, offer support, ensure medication compliance and, increasingly, find funding sources for those who can't afford their prescriptions.
Anne Hollingsworth, Diplomat's Funding Supervisor, oversees the funding department's efforts. She says with the Company's patient base increasing (1 million new covered lives are planned to be on board in the first quarter of 2010), the need for financial assistance does too.