Data Standardization and Technology in Specialty Pharmacy

Jonathan Ogurchak, PharmD, CSP, sits down with Specialty Pharmacy Times® to discuss why data standardization is important in specialty pharmacy and how technology plays into it during the NASP Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.

JO: So, there’s a huge area for growth for pharmacy, especially in particularly as it relates to technology. There’s a need for some standardization just to help to better capture not only the patient experience but the outcomes that are associated with taking some of these specialty medications. And there’s opportunities available for pharmacists and pharmacies to get involved with that technology. However, until there are some standards that are outlined from bodies like NCPDP or PQA that help to drive home to what pharmacies need to measure. It makes a little bit more of a challenge to bring the technology to meet that. So, we’re moving in the right direction, it’s just that it’s taking a little-ways to get there. But I think that the technologies would have definitely help to support that.