The Patient Assistance Program Committee at the Jackson Free Clinic: Discussing the Need, Design, and Implementation

Many populations face the barriers of high medication costs due to limited resources, especially those served by student-run free clinics (SRFCs). As part of the solution, patient assistance programs (PAPs) managed through pharmaceutical companies provide free medications to patients who are unable to afford them. Various PAP-related interventions have been proven to improve efficiency and patient care in SRFCs. The Jackson Free Clinic (JFC) serves some of the most vulnerable populations in Mississippi, which as a state has performed poorly nationally in a variety of healthcare metrics. Proximity to such a population and access to service from training health professionals provides a unique opportunity to create change by implementation of student-driven PAP services. The newly established PAP committee undertakes the tasks necessary to enroll, track, and dispense individual patients' medications received through enrollment in an assistance program specific to the needed medication. The hope of the PAP committee is to reduce the responsibility of medical and pharmacy teams, increase enrollment likelihood, improve medication adherence, decrease patient wait time, and improve patient care. The development of the PAP committee has shown the value of implementing an organized PAP formulary, a consistent organizational structure, and an all-inclusive written hand-guide, which has created an improved training environment for committee members. Other results reported by regional SRFCs have suggested the clinical and cost benefits of implementing PAPs, particularly a committee. The novel method employed at JFC requires additional research and development toward the larger effort of improving patient care, which we plan to investigate with future endeavors.