How OkRx plans to bring specialty medicine services to every pharmacy

An Ontario startup on a mission to ease patients’ access to specialty medication and to “level the playing field” for community pharmacists has launched digital solutions that streamline key tasks such as patient enrolment, prior authorization and insurance coverage processing. “We’re using technology to bring specialty pharmacy services into every pharmacy,” said Ramy El-Kholi, co-founder and chief commercial officer at OkRx, located in Oakville just west of Toronto. “As we see more sophisticated drugs such as biosimilars come to market, we feel strongly that local pharmacies have a role to play in providing patients access to these types of products.” The specialty drugs market has grown significantly in recent years. In Canada, overall private drug plan spending on these typically higher-cost medications increased by more than 23% in 2020 from the previous year, according to the latest prescription drug trends reports from Express Scripts Canada. That figure is expected to go even higher as more specialty meds move from development pipeline to market, and as a number of existing specialty drugs get approved to treat a wider range of diseases. “But pharmacists have been largely locked out of this arena,” said El-Kholi, a pharmacist who worked as a senior manager of specialty pharmacy at Shoppers Drug Mart, and who has launched two other companies over the last eight years. “I see specialty medicine as a big practice scope for pharmacists, and that’s going to become more topical in the near future.” Read: Making it simple: Patient Support Programs can help Canadians navigate the specialty drug maze While community pharmacists may not be equipped to administer certain types of specialty medications—such as chemotherapy for cancer—they are more than capable of administering injectable drugs such as Humira for rheumatoid arthritis, or dispensing oral tablets for hepatitis-C, said El-Kholi whose partner at OkRx, founder John Leombruno, is also trained as a pharmacist. But the administrative work that goes into every specialty medication prescription is so onerous that most local pharmacists have neither the time nor the resources to take on. As a result, pharmacists often have no choice but to turn away patients—and greater revenue opportunities, said El-Kholi. The administrative burden of specialty medication can also be hard on patients, who may end up paying more for the drugs they need because they don’t have the knowledge or time to navigate a complex funding system. OkRx’s solutions begin by digitizing virtually every step of the enrollment, authorization and insurance process for specialty medications. Instead of paper forms that need to be sent and received by fax, OkRx puts all information in digitized PDFs that can be filled out and signed by multiple parties including patients, prescribing physicians, health plan holders and caregivers. Signatures can be requested and captured on any computer or mobile device, and the progress of each prescription can be tracked from the initial request to completion. OkRx can also generate, at the point of prescribing, electronic co-pay drug cards from approved healthcare providers. In addition to digitizing and streamlining forms, OkRx also offers solutions for patient support and engagement, as well as data analysis and reporting to better understand patients’ drug use, spending and progress, said El-Kholi. All of these solutions are designed to integrate with physician, pharmacy and institutional EMRs, he added. “Our solutions level the playing field so that any pharmacist can offer specialty medication services,” said El-Kholi. “As we see more expanded scope for pharmacy practice in Canada, the ability to serve specialty medication needs within the community will become more important for pharmacists.” Read: The new topicals – So much more than pain relief & pediatrics in the age of polypharmacy Jason Wentzell, oncology pharmacist and founder of Ottawa-based Extend Pharmacy and Extend Health Solutions—which specialize in take-home cancer medications and supportive care—said OkRx’s solutions have made it easier to monitor patients, record pharmacists’ interventions and review health performance indicators to confirm the effectiveness of the clinical care provided by his team. “We are now in a transition period to making this our main system for documentation and proactive patient monitoring,” said Wentzell. While he understands how OkRx technology can help community pharmacies provide more specialty drug services, Wentzell said the usefulness of the company’s solutions extend to all classes and types of medication. “It isn’t specific only to specialty medication,” he said. “Regardless of the medication, being able to follow up with a patient and provide support with any clinical issues is a great value for pharmacists.” Read: Meet the 2021 Pharmacy U Innovation Award winners

How OkRx plans to bring specialty medicine services to every pharmacy

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