Case Study: Patient-centric Care in Rare Disease

Situation

For 13 years, Patient X suffered from a rare condition and relied on daily infusions of Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN) lasting 10 hours each session to sustain their nutritional needs. As a result, the patient’s daily activities were severely limited and completely governed by their TPN schedule. However, in 2015 Patient X was prescribed the first ever specialty medication designed to reduce the need for TPN over time.
The manufacturer of this new medication needed a trusted partner to deliver critical healthcare services to Canadian recipients, such as Patient X. The manufacturer had an established relationship with Innomar Strategies, and chose to partner with them again based on the company’s previous performance, knowledge of specialty medication, and integrated solutions.

Our Integrated Solutions

Innomar Strategies provides essential healthcare services through an integrated model designed to deliver a consistent and coordinated customer experience that enhances patient care. The integrated model is centered on patient needs and features core services that include patient support programs, nursing, specialty pharmacy, and distribution. Partnering with manufacturers, Innomar provides programs that are designed to ensure patients can access, afford, and adhere to their specialty medications.

In cases similar to Patient X, Canadian patients can experience the entire spectrum of the Innomar integrated service model throughout their treatment journey:

Programs and Reimbursement
Upon prescribing the recently approved medication, Patient X’s physician enrolled the individual in the manufacturer’s Patient Support Program (PSP) operated by Innomar Strategies. In collaboration with the manufacturer, Innomar designed the PSP to ensure personalized support specific to the medication, therapeutic category, and patient needs. The success of the program is driven by the ability to communicate with all key stakeholders, and act as the central point of contact for patients, their healthcare team and insurance companies/drug plans.

It was important for Patient X to remain in close contact with their assigned nurse case manager to monitor and record patient compliance and treatment effectiveness. In addition, the Innomar reimbursement specialist helped Patient X navigate the often complex reimbursement process required to obtain coverage for a high-cost specialty medication.

Nursing Support
The medication required self-administered injections and consistent follow-up to ensure patient safety and treatment effectiveness.  Innomar provides nursing services integrated into the PSPs to ensure high-quality injection/infusion care, and consistent outcome monitoring and communication to the patient’s health care team.

A dedicated nurse was assigned to Patient X and provided training and education sessions so the patient could self-inject safely in the comfort of their own home. The nurse carefully tracked and documented the treatment outcomes to assess if the new treatment and TPN schedules were successful.

Third-Party Logistics, Distribution and Specialty Pharmacy
The medication used by Patient X was manufactured outside of Canada, and the pharmaceutical company required a licensed Importer of Record to distribute the medication to Canadian patients. As an approved Importer of Record by Health Canada, Innomar Strategies provided Third-Party Logistics (3PL) and distribution capabilities to ensure the integrity of the product is maintained throughout the supply chain.

Innomar Strategies also has a network of specialty pharmacies located across Canada (Innomar Pharmacy™) that are integrated into the PSP. Medication is shipped directly to the patient ensuring that patients do not have to worry about gaps in treatment.

For Patient X, their nurse case manager coordinated both the dispensing of the medication from an Innomar Pharmacy and the patient’s nursing schedule to ensure the shipment and delivery of the medication was aligned with the training and education appointments.

Outcome
After careful monitoring and adherence to the treatment schedule, Patient X was able to successfully decrease their weekly number of TPN infusions from 7 nights per week to 5 nights per week. The patient also did not have to coordinate between multiple companies throughout their treatment journey to obtain the quality of care they deserve. With the Innomar integrated model, the patient’s information and treatment schedule was consistently monitored in a single case file to ensure consistent tracking of treatment outcomes and engagement with their healthcare team.

After 13 years of needing infusions daily, the decrease in TPN allowed the patient to have more freedom and energy to enjoy daily activities, improving their quality of life.  With the help of Innomar services, the patient now self-administers their medication daily, and spends more time with their friends and family and less time focused on their illness.