Introduction
Implementing the right specialty pharmacy cold chain solution is critical for safe and effective distribution. As the pipeline for specialty medications increases, along with their temperature requirements, cold chain management is no longer a luxury. Instead, it’s a necessity to protect the integrity of specialty medications and therefore patient safety and practice revenues.
The future of cold chain management is much more than just packaging. Today, there’s a multitude of factors to keep in mind when considering a cold chain solution. In the article below, we discuss three crucial components of a specialty pharmacy cold chain solution.
Three critical components of a specialty pharmacy cold chain solution
Continuity
43 percent of the 292 specialty medications approved from January 2018 to March 2023 required cold chain storage. Six percent of which required freezing or below temperatures. As many more specialty drugs enter the market with cold chain requirements, it’s important to ensure the continuity of the cold chain from end to end.
However, specialty medications are particularly vulnerable during last-mile delivery to patients. To illustrate, specialty medication distribution errors are eight times as likely as errors in dispensing. The most common cause of distribution error occurs when medications are delivered to the wrong address.
Without the proper cold chain strategy in place, these medications must be replaced and re-distributed. This can delay patients’ critical treatment and lead to increased costs for specialty pharmacies.
As such, optimized thermal packaging, monitoring technologies, and package rescue protocols are imperative to prevent these risky temperature excursions. It’s also important to note that it takes the combination of all these strategies to ensure cold chain continuity.
To illustrate, applying the optimal thermal packaging to a medication can protect it when it’s delivered to the wrong address, but it can’t get the package where it needs to be. Rather, monitoring technologies are a must to identify delivery errors while thermal packaging can give package rescue teams more time to recover and deliver a package before it’s too late.
Sustainability
Sustainability is a top priority for healthcare and its supply chain. In a recent VPL webinar, 77 percent of supply chain leaders indicated that sustainability is a key focus for their business in 2024.
Cold chain management can be particularly resource- and energy-intensive, making it no exception to the growing need for sustainability in the industry. According to a blog from Cold Chain Technologies (CCT) titled, “What is Sustainable Cold Chain Packaging?” sustainable cold chain packaging is reusable, recyclable, eco-friendly thermal packaging.
This can include, for example, recycled plastic packaging, biodegradable mailers, and plant-based shipping materials such as those made from corn starch polylactic acid (PLA). Not only are these options more sustainable, but they can also be customized for the unique requirements of specialty pharmacy.
CCT, for example, successfully implemented a reusable thermal packaging solution for the distribution of temperature-sensitive medications. In doing so, they helped their customer reduce excess packaging while ensuring they upheld clinical requirements.
Compliance
Lastly, compliance is a key consideration when it comes to implementing the optimal specialty pharmacy cold chain solution. This is now especially important with the introduction of distribution management in the URAC 5.0 accreditation standards.
URAC 5.0 now requires specialty pharmacies to define ideal temperature ranges for medications shipped out of the pharmacy. This process includes:
- Defining evidence-based criteria on the ideal temperature ranges and excursions for each medication type—frozen, refrigerated, and room temperature.
- Determining the necessary packaging products, shipping requirements, and shipping durations for each medication.
- Performing qualification testing on distribution procedures and packaging according to all defined temperature ranges and excursions.
Fortunately, the new URAC standards give specialty pharmacies more room to define and implement a tailored cold chain strategy. This allows them to account for the unique requirements of each medication in their inventory, as well as factors like geographic location.
Conclusion
A successful specialty pharmacy cold chain solution requires synergy among several key components, including continuity, sustainability, and compliance. Continuity ensures the uninterrupted distribution of specialty medications. This in turn ensures compliance with regulatory and accreditation bodies. Investing in sustainable cold chain solutions further helps deliver medications safely, cost-effectively, and with minimal environmental impact.
With the specialty market expected to surge to $118 billion by 2025, specialty pharmacies must optimize their cold chain strategies now to capture as much of this value as possible. In addition, a streamlined cold chain ensures optimal patient safety and outcomes while protecting revenues and maintaining compliance.
VPL Rx + Cold Chain Technologies
Cold Chain Technologies (CCT) is a leading provider of thermal packaging solutions for specialty pharmacies and the life science supply chain. In partnership with VPL Rx, CCT provides VPL Rx customers with reliable thermal packaging solutions, economical shipping options, and real-time tracking.
The new service is integrated directly into the VPL Rx platform. Customers may now select a thermal packaging option during their normal shipping workflow. The feature can also provide packaging recommendations based on the route and destination of the parcel. Customers may track these shipments and receive confirmation of delivery as well.
All these features aim to support the goal of specialty pharmacies to provide the best patient experience possible by delivering patients’ medications in a safe, timely, and effective manner. To learn more, visit https://go.getvpl.com/cct.
About VPL Rx
VPL Rx is a clinically minded shipping, tracking, and compliance solution designed to modernize pharmacy distribution and promote healthier patients. Our quicker shipping workflow delivers prescriptions safely with real-time tracking, delivery alerts, and last-mile intervention. Exportable performance reporting and data analytics help pharmacies optimize costs and maintain compliance and accreditation.
