Effectiveness of a Patient Support Program in Supporting Access to Therapy for Solid Tumor Malignancies

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Health Services Research
• Pharmaceutical Access

Background:

• Patient support programs, often run by pharmaceutical manufacturers, aim to reduce healthcare access barriers.
• These programs increasingly assist both insured and uninsured patients with navigating complex systems and managing out-of-pocket costs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of a manufacturer-sponsored patient support program on therapy access for solid tumor malignancies.
• To analyze service utilization, case outcomes, and patient demographics within the Celgene Patient Support (CPS) program.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of sociodemographic characteristics, service use, and outcomes for patients prescribed nab-paclitaxel.
• Inclusion of a random sample of patients enrolled in the CPS program from April 2011 to November 2013.
• Evaluation at both patient and case levels, stratified by insurance type.

Main Results:

• The study included 4566 patients (8134 cases), with a majority being female, under 65, and treated in community settings.
• Key support services included benefits investigations (98.5%), free medication provision (29.4%), appeals support (15.0%), and co-payment assistance (8.1%).
• Nab-paclitaxel was provided at no cost in 89.4% of financial support cases, and 93.3% of eligible commercially-insured patients received co-payment assistance.

Conclusions:

• The Celgene Patient Support (CPS) program demonstrated success in facilitating patient access to cancer therapy.
• The program effectively provided prior authorization, appeals, and financial assistance, benefiting both insured and uninsured patients.