The Apothecary and Wellness Center at the Yale New Haven Hospital Saint Raphael Campus has been offering specialty pharmacy services to New Haven-area patients since late 2014. In May 2016, the service expanded to Greenwich and Bridgeport hospitals and Northeast Medical Group (NEMG) with the opening of Yale New Haven Health System Outpatient Pharmacy Services at 1100 Sherman Ave. in Hamden.

This location is primarily a mail-order site which offers YNHHS providers and patients specialty pharmacy services for complex medical conditions such as cancer, hepatitis C, HIV, cystic fibrosis, multiple sclerosis and rheumatic conditions.

YNHHS providers may continue to prescribe and fill medications at the pharmacy of their and their patients' choice, but specialty medications frequently necessitate a lot of patient support and counseling due to the complex care, specialized reimbursement and specific delivery and storage requirements. YNHHS Outpatient Pharmacy Services has expanded to support patients with complex pharmacy needs after discharge.

Other specialty pharmacies may take up to 14 days to dispense these prescriptions; YNHHS Outpatient Pharmacy Services dispenses most prescriptions within 72 hours. Medications can be delivered at no cost directly to patients' homes or picked up at the SRC Apothecary or Hamden location.

Outpatient Pharmacy Services' specialty pharmacy team provides disease-specific education and counseling and helps ensure patients are taking their medications correctly. The team navigates patients through the insurance process and offers financial counseling to determine if patients are eligible for co-pay assistance or other reimbursement programs. Clinical pharmacists make follow-up calls to patients after discharge to help with side-effects management and other issues. Patients also receive monthly refill reminder calls. All information is documented in Epic so the patient's physicians and other healthcare providers can view the current status of the prescription and patient treatment course.

For information, contact Renee Havriliak, associate director, specialty pharmacy services 203-747-7899, or [email protected]; or Martha Stutsky, senior clinical pharmacy specialist, 203-747-3956, or [email protected].