2026 Eastern States Conference

Authors: Maddie Allen, PharmD; Rohina Bayat, PharmD, BCPS; Carol Luong, PharmD, BCPS

Learning Objective: Audience members will be able to explain the impact of clinical specialty pharmacy services on HIV viral load, immunologic, and medication adherence outcomes.

Background/Objective: Medication adherence is essential for optimal HIV outcomes. Specialty pharmacy services support adherence, stable viral load, and immunologic function. The objective is to evaluate HIV providers' understanding and use of specialty pharmacy services.  

Methods: This study focused on HIV provider awareness and utilization of specialty pharmacy services as assessed through a pre-survey distributed to all identified HIV providers. Barriers to the use of specialty pharmacy services and gaps in knowledge of the benefits of specialty pharmacy services were identified, and a short educational handout was developed and distributed to HIV providers. A post-survey was subsequently distributed to analyze the difference in provider understanding and utilization of specialty pharmacy services following provider education.  

Results: Sixty percent of the surveyed providers completed the pre-education survey. Benefits to specialty pharmacy services included coordination of refills and delivery, benefits investigations, 24/7 on-call clinical support, and enhanced access to therapy. Identified barriers included hours of operation, insurance restrictions, and patient preference. Following provider education, forty percent of HIV care providers completed the post-education survey. Benefits to clinical specialty pharmacist outreach included medication adherence tips and counseling, side effect management, and ongoing education of drug and food interactions with antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens. Benefits included free medication delivery and language translation services for medication directions. Reported barriers included complications with medication delivery and coordination.  

Conclusion: Our study found that provider use of specialty pharmacy services is driven by personalized support for patients during pharmacist outreach, free medication delivery, coordination of refills, and completion of benefits investigations. Limitations to use of specialty pharmacy services were determined to be driven by patient insurance. 

Self-Assessment Question: What was the most common barrier identified by HIV providers to using specialty pharmacy services?
A. Provider preference
B. Insurance companies restricting patient use
C. Hours of operation
D. Lack of knowledge of specialty pharmacy service benefits
E. Lack of communication with pharmacy staff