Accredo Health Group, Inc.
TypeSubsidiary
Industry
PredecessorSouthern Health Systems
Founded1996 (1996)
Headquarters
Memphis, Tennessee
,
U.S.
ParentExpress Scripts
Websitewww.accredo.com

Accredo Health Group, Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical and service provider for patients with complex and chronic health conditions.[1] Accredo provides specialty drugs, drugs that cost more than $600 per month, with the average being $10,000 a month, which treat serious conditions such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, hemophilia and cancer.[1] It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Express Scripts and is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee.[2][3]

History

Southern Health Systems (SHS), Accredo's predecessor, was founded in 1983. SHS distributed Protropin, a human growth hormone, and clotting factor.[1] Accredo Health, Inc. was organized in 1996. The following year it acquired Southern Health Systems, Inc. (SHS) and its wholly owned subsidiary, Nova Factor, Inc. (NFI). Soon thereafter, Accredo acquired Hemophilia Health Services (HHS). In 1999, Accredo filed its IPO and became a public company, trading on NASDAQ under the ticker ACDO.[4][5] In 2004, Medco Health Solutions Inc. allied with Accredo Health to form a specialty pharmacy. In June of that year, its wholly owned subsidiary, HHS acquired Hemophilia Resources of America.[6] In August the following year, Medco acquired Accredo and it became a wholly owned subsidiary of the company.[3] In 2012, Express Scripts acquired Medco, making Accredo a wholly owned subsidiary of Express Scripts.[7][8] As a result, Accredo merged with CuraScript SP Specialty Pharmacy, operating under the name Accredo.[1]

Accredo offers over 300 specialty drugs which are offered in 30 pharmacies nationwide.

Pharmaceuticals

Accredo's pharmacy provides infused, injectable, and oral drugs that are used to treat complex, chronic and life-threatening diseases.

Services

This company is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau,[9] and has had multiple class action lawsuits over failure to provide basic services and poor patient ethics. A 2019 investigation by Olga Khazan in The Atlantic documented how Accredo and other specialty pharmacies harm patients in their efforts to cut costs as they delay sending medications for weeks and, at times, months.[10]

Accredo offers Therapeutic Resource Centers (TRCs) for specialty conditions. The conditions covered by Accredo's TRCs include bleeding disorders, cardiovascular, diabetes, Hepatitis C, HIV and Immunology, immune disorders, inflammatory conditions, Multiple Sclerosis, neuroscience, oncology, pulmonary, pulmonary hypertension and women's health. The purpose of the teams is to provide specialty drugs, ensure dosage is correct for each patient, and encourage drug compliance to reduce waste and costs for all parties.[11][12][13] Side effect management is an important part of TRC, as side effects are a large contributor to patients not complying with their drug regimens.[13] Pharmacists and nurses also provide patient counseling and education.[13]

The oncology TRC includes oncology decision support tools for physicians and patients in partnership with Eviti, Inc.[11] It is broken up into subdivisions for types of cancer to provide drug-specific support.[1]

The company's Clinical Day Supply program addresses patient noncompliance with oral oncology drug regimens.[12] To reduce waste as well as to monitor patient drug tolerance, Accredo gave only a half fill of prescription medications, then performed a clinical assessment to monitor patient drug tolerance and help ensure that patients do not take unnecessary or ineffective drugs.[12] With the program, treatment options can also be reexamined if the drugs are working, but side effects are hindering quality of life.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Toby Sells (January 31, 2013). "Signs point to Accredo surviving the Express Scripts takeover of Medco". The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
  2. ↑ Tamara Lytle (March 1, 2014). "Soaring Specialty Drug Costs Require HR Response". Society for Human Resource Management. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
  3. 1 2 Terry Hollahan (March 8, 2014). "Some Investments Have a Shelf Life". Memphis Business Journal. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
  4. ↑ Staff (April 16, 1999). "Accredo Health Announces IPO". Memphis Business Journal. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
  5. ↑ "ACCREDO HEALTH INC (ACDO) IPO – NASDAQ.com". NASDAQ. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Accredo Health, Inc. Announces Acquisition of Hemophilia Resources of America, Inc" (Press release). BusinessWire. June 4, 2004. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
  7. ↑ Reed Abelson; Natasha Singer (April 2, 2012). "F.T.C. Approves Merger of 2 of the Biggest Pharmacy Benefit Managers". The New York Times. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
  8. ↑ Nash Nunnery (May 10, 2012). "10 Best Places to Work: Gilberts Home Health". Mississippi Business Journal.
  9. ↑ "Accredo Health Group, Inc. | Better Business Bureau® Profile". www.bbb.org. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  10. ↑ Khazan, Olga (2019-04-09). "Invisible Middlemen Are Slowing Down American Health Care". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 2023-07-15. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  11. 1 2 Davis, Warren (2014). "Waste and Missed Opportunities Drive Costs Upward". Clinical Advances in Hematology & Oncology. Millennium Medical Publishing. 12 (1): 65.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Mohanty, Monalisa; Cast (August 8, 2013). "Cancer Patients Require Coordinated Care". Specialty Pharmacy Times. Archived from the original on Feb 8, 2023. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
  13. 1 2 3 Peter Benesh (April 12, 2010). "If it's the Only Cure, It's Going to Cost You: Specialty Drugs Grow Rise in Health Care Costs Spurred by Treatment for Scare Conditions". Investor's Business Day.
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