Much like us at Shields Health Solutions, the fully integrated specialty pharmacies market is growing rapidly. It became clear that there needed to be a trade organization committed to advocating for better patient care and outcomes associated with this developing market. And thus, the Health System Owned Specialty Pharmacy Alliance (HOSP) was founded in October, with the help of Jack Shields.
“The integrated health-system owned specialty pharmacy industry is one of the leading growth areas in healthcare today,” said Tanya Menchi, Executive Director at HOSP and Director of Public Policy at Shields. “One out of every four health systems operate its own specialty pharmacy in the United States. In a few years that trend is expected to double.”
Who is HOSP:
The Health System Owned Specialty Pharmacy (HOSP) Alliance was formed in 2020 and is a nationwide non-profit organization made up of leading health systems and other network providers of specialty pharmacy patient care. HOSP develops industry best practices and provides objective, trusted information regarding the integrated specialty pharmacy model.
The creation of HOSP comes at a critical time in the industry. Health care costs continue to skyrocket while the demand for improved quality and outcomes increases, and patients are looking for improved quality and outcomes while reducing those expenses.
“We are focused on the integrated delivery model of specialty pharmacies that health systems can bring to the table,” said Tim Affeldt, Board Member and Vice President, Specialty/Infusion Pharmacy Operations, Fairview Health Services. “We firmly believe that the value and experience being created at our integrated specialty pharmacies is not matched in the industry and won’t be matched.”
HOSP is committed to improving patient care with through sharing knowledge, collaborating on best practices, and advocating for the integrated specialty pharmacy industry on issues like 340B, payer and LDD access, patient choice and DIR fees.
HOSP’s Goals for 2021:
1. Become the face and voice of the integrated specialty pharmacy industry.
2. Establish set of industry benchmarks for integrated specialty pharmacies that demonstrate marked improvement in patient care.
3. Become the accepted industry source for objective information and knowledge-sharing.
How can you get involved:
Does your health system want to be involved in advocating for the integrated specialty pharmacy industry? Become a member of HOSP! Becoming a member of HOSP gives you a seat at the table within the specialty pharmacy industry, not only does HOSP give you exclusive access to a network of industry leaders, but it also grants you access to content that deals with trends and topics affecting the industry. Membership in HOSP is open to all health systems that already have or are interested in developing their own integrated specialty pharmacy.
Recently HOSP held a webinar on what integrated specialty pharmacies are and why they are crucial to the health care landscape last week, and the slides can be viewed here: Answering the Rise of Integrated Specialty Pharmacies
For more information on HOSP, please visit their website at hospalliance.org.
