WVU Medicine’s Allied Health Solutions Specialty Pharmacy earns accreditation

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The WVU Medicine Allied Health Solutions Specialty Pharmacy has earned a URAC Specialty Pharmacy accreditation. This accreditation helps the pharmacy obtain access to limited-distribution medications for serious health conditions requiring complex medication therapies, including multiple sclerosis, cystic fibrosis, cancer, and hepatitis C.

Only 500 pharmacies in the nation hold a URAC Specialty Pharmacy accreditation, and Allied Health Solutions is one of three specialty pharmacies in the state to hold the accreditation. The pharmacy held a provisional accreditation starting December 2016 before earning full accreditation for the first time in April.

“It’s a very difficult and rigorous accreditation to receive and maintain,” Louis Sokos, Allied Health Solutions director, said. “It means a great deal to be able to provide this level of service to our patients. It affords access to a very competitive and limited marketplace.”

URAC’s Specialty Pharmacy accreditation helps specialty pharmacies position themselves and demonstrate their value in delivering specialized clinical services. Many insurers and manufacturers use this accreditation to differentiate pharmacies and view it as a validation of quality.

URAC-accredited specialty pharmacies:

• Have policies and procedures in place to ensure consumers have access to appropriate medications;
• Maintain methods to measure customer satisfaction;
• Protect consumer health information;
• Have policies and procedures that ensure adherence to medication safety protocols;
• Follow a logical blueprint for quality management, maintenance, and reporting;
• Meet rigorous performance measures for accuracy and turnaround time of dispensed prescriptions;
• Have a patient-centered strategy for its patient management program that includes coordination of care, communication and education, and patient rights and responsibilities;
• Ensure the timeliness and performance of customer service center operations, including time to answer telephone inquiries; and
• Report mandatory performance measures to URAC.

URAC is an independent, nonprofit accreditation entity, based in Washington, D.C., whose mission it is to advance healthcare quality through leadership, accreditation, measurement, and innovation. URAC was founded in 1990 as an independent, third party healthcare quality validator.