Dr Steven Pearson Explains the Growth in Specialty Medications

As the name and meaning of specialty medications have grown over time, so too has the importance of these pharmaceuticals, said Steven D. Pearson, MD, MSc, president of the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review.

Transcript (slightly modified)

Why is it so important to focus on patients who use specialty medications?

The term “specialty pharmaceutical” has kind of evolved over time. Originally it was most closely linked with biological medications in which the development of the medicine was very individualized and required a lot of intensive services. Over time it’s come to mean almost any drug for which there is either high cost, or some really important need for intensive management with patients around adherence or appropriate use.

And so I think the growth in importance of specialty pharmaceuticals is because of their increasing importance in clinical practice and in consideration of expenditures.