^{Kristen Reimers, RPh, is the senior vice president of specialty clinical solutions at Prime Therapeutics.}

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For families navigating a serious illness, getting the right treatment approved is only the first step. Coordinating appointments, balancing work and school schedules, arranging transportation and managing the day-to-day realities of care can create barriers that make it difficult to stay on track.

That’s why effective healthcare support must go beyond coverage decisions. It’s at its best when it’s powered by people who can identify potential challenges early, connect the right resources, and help patients and their families navigate a complex system.

I see examples of that every day, but one story has stayed with me. A young patient was diagnosed with B-cell lymphoblastic leukemia. Prime Therapeutics (Prime) had already approved coverage for his bispecific antibody therapy, a newer oncology treatment. During a routine review of his case, one of our pharmacists noticed that while the patient had received his first induction dose, there appeared to be a gap in treatment.

Recognizing the potential risk of interruptions in care, the pharmacist reached out to the patient’s mom to understand what was happening and whether additional support was needed.

When our pharmacist reached her, they quickly understood the complications standing in the way: It wasn’t clear when appointments were scheduled, and the patient’s mom was having difficulty getting time off from work for her son’s treatment. Because his therapy required inpatient hospitalization for several days for his infusion and monitoring, along with at-home stays to limit his risk of infections. She was also concerned about the amount of school her son would miss. There were so many difficulties piling up for the family — they just needed some support sorting it out.   

Our pharmacist quickly connected with the patient’s health plan care coordination team and oncology clinic to clarify upcoming appointments. And they worked with his school to arrange virtual classroom sessions and at-home tutoring. Prime also helped address the family’s scheduling and transportation challenges by coordinating rides with other family members.

By removing that unneeded disruption, we made sure this young patient could continue his therapy and helped to make it a little easier for him and his family to get him on the path to survivorship.

Visit PrimeTherapeutics.com/ReimaginePBM to experience the power of people.