Prescription medications are frequently used in treating cancer, and Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University’s specialty pharmacies offer pharmaceutical drugs and highly trained pharmacists to help ensure the drugs work as effectively as possible. In fact, people with cancer treated by Winship are 25% more likely to take their medications as prescribed when they obtain them from Winship’s in-house pharmacies than if they fill them at a big-box external pharmacy.
“Our pharmacy plays such a critical role in the outcomes of our patients, based on their adherence rates and the oversight we provide them,” says Ryan Haumschild, PharmD, MS, MBA, director of pharmacy services for Winship and Emory Healthcare.
Instead of your prescription getting sent to an external pharmacy that isn’t familiar with your electronic health records (EHR), medical history, care plan or your provider, “At Winship, we’re all working on the same team,” says Haumschild. “Using our in-house pharmacies and pharmacists provides a more timely approval process, more patient-specific counseling on the medication therapy and better oversight that can be documented in the EHR, which enables better adherence to treatment.”