Innovation, Please: What's Next and What's Needed in Specialty Therapy

There’s a Better Way: Smart Talk on Healthcare and Technology

Sep 6 2022 • 33 mins

As the U.S. population ages, it’s also getting sicker: According to the CDC, more than a quarter of U.S. adults face multiple chronic conditions. An ever-increasing number of Americans are on a specialty therapy or medication—more than 66 million in 2022. The good news? Conditions that were untreatable decades ago now have effective therapies. The bad news? The journey from diagnosis to treatment remains costly and onerous: CVS reported that specialty medications accounted for more than 52% of drug spend in 2020. In addition, underserved and minority populations often don’t get the specialty medication access and education they need to improve their outcomes. Melanie will chat with Joel Helle on what's needed and what's next with specialty prescribing & dispensing—and how technology and innovation play important roles. We’ll ask Joel to share his professional and personal experience with improving the specialty journey—and why he’s passionate about making this process better for the pharmacist, for the patient, for the doctor. We’ll also talk about what inspires Joel—and what he thinks the future holds for a market ripe for innovation.