Specialty medications are used to treat costly and complex conditions like cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. Many of these drugs must be injected or infused by a nurse or provider and the cost of these medications can vary widely from one infusion site to the next.
While medical providers can direct patients to infusion centers in hospital settings – these sites of care often charge more for the same drug compared to physicians’ offices or non-hospital affiliated infusion centers – and may require patients to travel long distances, taking time away from their families and their jobs.
“The medical field has grown up with the idea that the hospital is the main site of care—a place where all treatment had to happen. However, over the last 5-10 years, there’s been a shift in which we’ve realized that many of the things we have historically done in a hospital can perhaps be better done somewhere else,” said Dr. Andrew Lasher, chief medical officer at IVX Health.