Shields Health Solutions Awards Resident Research Grants

Each organization awarded $5K to advance health system specialty pharmacy

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Shields Health Solutions, the nation’s premier specialty pharmacy accelerator, is proud to award resident research grants in the amount of $5,000 each to supplement existing projects or initiatives which advance health system specialty pharmacy in Q4 of 2021. It marks the second straight year Shields has offered grants to qualified health systems in the interest of advancing their health system-based specialty pharmacy.

“Shields is committed to supporting innovation and improvement in health system specialty pharmacies and the research grant program is a key component to that support,” said Brian Smith, Chief Pharmacy Officer at Shields. “Our work with integrated health systems has shown that specialty pharmacy services are a powerful tool in delivering quality and cost-effective care across a range of complex disease states and the projects funded by these grants will work to influence more positive patient outcomes.”

Pharmacy Advantage, the specialty pharmacy integrated into Henry Ford Health System, was awarded a grant in Q4 2021 for its project to evaluate services provided by an integrated health system specialty pharmacy dispensing an oral treatment for pulmonary hypertension, ambrisentan. Pharmacy Advantage is the first health system-based specialty pharmacy to dispense ambrisentan, allowing patients to have the medication delivered directly to the bedside when initiated during a hospital stay. Residents David Gutenschwager, PharmD and Anand Patel, PharmD and Senior Investigator Zachary R. Smith, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP, along with colleagues Sweta Patel, PharmD, CSP and Amanda Soyad, PharmD will look to demonstrate the benefits of Henry Ford Health System’s specialty pharmacy services to manufacturers of other pulmonary hypertension treatments and justify access for health system specialty pharmacies to limited distribution channels for pulmonary hypertension medications.

“We expect our project will demonstrate the benefits of specialty pharmacy services to manufacturers of pulmonary hypertension treatments,” said Dr. Zachary R. Smith. “By increasing access for health system-based specialty pharmacies to limited distribution medications, we can not only expand patient access to effective treatments, but also provide them with the enhanced care and benefits that come with filling specialty prescriptions at a health system specialty pharmacy.”

Qualified health systems for the grants included Shields-partnered health systems and members of the Excelera Network, which combined span 43 states and account for more than 70 health systems with over 850 hospitals nationwide.

To learn more about Shields, visit https://www.shieldshealthsolutions.com/

About Shields Health Solutions & ExceleraRx, LLC
Shields Health Solutions is a specialty pharmacy integrator and care provider dedicated to helping hospital leaders create, grow and manage hospital-owned specialty pharmacy programs. With a purpose-built technology platform, access to over 80 percent of all limited distribution drugs (LDDs), as well as most (health insurance) payors in the nation, Shields provides the fastest, lowest risk model for standing up health system-based specialty pharmacies.

ExceleraRx, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Shields Health Solutions and the creator of the Excelera® Network, which is comprised of integrated delivery networks, health systems, and large academic medical centers with a deep commitment to caring for complex patients. Through national-scale collaboration, the Excelera Network more efficiently gains access to LDDs and utilizes tools, technology, and best practices at scale to improve health outcomes and decrease healthcare costs.