General Info

Specialty pharmacy focuses on high cost, high touch medication therapy for patients with complex disease states. Medications in specialty pharmacy range from oral to cutting edge injectable and biologic products. The disease states treated range from cancer, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis to rare genetic conditions. A specialty pharmacist may work in a variety of practice settings. Some pharmacists in this practice area work in pharmacies dedicated to only products that are considered specialty medications. In this setting, pharmacists may work in a variety of areas including dispensing, medication therapy management, patient advocacy and therapy compliance. Some pharmacists work in institutional or health system settings and may be involved with the patients therapy from in-patient to ambulatory care sites. Other pharmacists work in more traditional retail settings and either focus on certain specialty disease states at their practice sites or work with an affiliated specialty pharmacy provider to dispense these complex medications.