NORFOLK, Va. & STOUGHTON, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Over the last four months, Sentara Healthcare patients with complex, chronic conditions have benefitted from access to specialized pharmacy services to help lower costs, expand treatment options, enhance medication management, and improve their overall health.
Sentara, a nationally recognized nonprofit network serving patients in six states and Washington D.C., and Shields Health Solutions, the nation’s leading specialty pharmacy integrator are now expanding comprehensive specialty pharmacy services to more patients in Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.
Proprium Pharmacy, Sentara Healthcare’s specialty pharmacy, treats patients with complex chronic illnesses such as Multiple Sclerosis and Rheumatoid Arthritis, and infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C. Treating such illnesses require a combination of complex drug therapies and extensive patient support services that may not be needed for more common medical conditions. Proprium has grown exponentially since launching in 2016 and has been a market leader for patient satisfaction, low patient copays, and expedient delivery times.
The partnership between Sentara Healthcare and Shields has augmented Proprium’s services and supports continued expansion. Shields provides specialty pharmacy liaisons to offer enhanced support for patients in 10 Sentara clinics with plans to expand in the future. These liaisons work with teams of experts to assist patients with health insurance prior authorizations, financial assistance, and overcoming other barriers to care.
The expanded patient support services combined with newly available drugs gives patients more treatment options at Sentara Healthcare. Building upon the successful foundation Proprium has established, Shields has helped newly enrolled patients achieve an average co-payment of less than $5, medication delivery of fewer than two days, and have improved medication adherence to more than 95%.
“This rapidly changing healthcare environment requires tremendous transformation and innovation to ensure the long-term success of each respective health system and, most importantly, the very best for those we are privileged to serve,” said Tim Jennings, Sentara Chief Pharmacy Officer. “The combination of lower prices, additional treatment options, and the support of an integrated care team will help improve outcomes and the overall health of our patients.”
As the largest provider of Medicaid services in the region, Sentara Healthcare can provide these services to many underserved patients who may benefit from the enhanced support.
“Often the patients who benefit most from specialty pharmacy services are the most vulnerable, requiring and deserving additional support to help them reach the best possible outcomes,” said Lee Cooper, CEO of Shields Health Solutions. “We are honored to help the extremely talented team of administrators and care providers at Sentara to bring this new level of service to the patients and communities they serve.”
The services initially launched in 10 clinics at Sentara with plans to expand to other specialty clinics across their system.
About Sentara
Sentara is one of the nation’s top integrated healthcare systems comprised of 12 hospitals spanning Virginia and North Carolina. With over 125 years of healthcare experience, Sentara employs over 3,800 medical staff and nearly 30,000 team members. Sentara’s not-for-profit health system includes nursing and assisted-living centers, outpatient campuses, imaging center, rehabilitation services, and a home health and hospice agency. Sentara serves 858,000 members through its Proprium Specialty Pharmacy, including Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, and Washington D.C., with its Optima Health Plan and Virginia Premier Health Plan insurance.
To schedule an appointment at one of Sentara’s specialty clinics, please visit: https://www.Sentara.org/schedule-appointment/
For more information, please follow Sentara on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
About Shields Health Solutions
Shields Health Solutions is a specialty pharmacy integrator and care provider, partnering with hospital leaders on every aspect of specialty pharmacy creation, growth and management. The company provides the fastest, lowest risk model for health systems to create a hospital-owned specialty pharmacy program. In doing so, Shields provides health systems with on-site pharmacy and care professionals, a purpose-built specialty pharmacy technology platform, and access to 80+ percent of all limited distribution drugs (LDDs) and most (health insurance) payors in the nation. Shields provides ownership of all specialty pharmacy assets in a health system’s name.
