Longitude Health to Launch Specialty Pharmacy Initiative
In October, four large nonprofit health systems — Baylor Scott & White Health, Memorial Hermann Health System, Novant Health and Providence — formed Longitude Health, an organization created to enhance core operational functions and transform health system performance. In its first strategic move, Longitude Health has hired Jigar Thakkar, Pharm.D., M.B.A., as the chief executive officer of Longitude Rx, a specialty pharmacy initiative.
Enhancing specialty pharmacy capabilities is the first initiative for Longitude Health. The goal is to improve patient access and adherence to specialty medications by providing solutions that support health systems in managing their specialty pharmacies. Longitude Rx is expected to formally launch in early 2025.
Thakkar joins Longitude Health from OU Health in Oklahoma, where he served as the chief administrative officer and chief pharmacy officer. He built a specialty pharmacy program for OU Health that notably grew to $470 million in less than four years. Prior to OU Health, Thakkar was a managing director at FTI Consulting’s healthcare practice.
“As more and more limited distribution drugs enter the marketplace, often in the form of spectacular new cell and gene therapies, health systems need to develop new capabilities and approaches to better support patients. Our vision is for patients to have access to these specialty medications accompanied by the guidance and support from highly specialized pharmacists and ancillary diagnostics to monitor their clinical responses and adjust accordingly,” explained Paul Mango, chief executive officer of Longitude Health, in a statement. “We are at an inflection point in the pace of new cell and gene therapy introductions. Health systems often face market, regulatory, and competitive barriers to obtaining and administering these therapies to their patients and communities.”
Hospital specialty pharmacies serve patients with complex health needs requiring a high level of clinical intervention and oversight to their medication regimen. A significant challenge for patients, providers and health systems alike, these medications are costly and often require prior authorization from insurance providers to dispense. A goal of Longitude Health is to create a set of capabilities supporting integrated care that will improve patient outcomes, reduce costs, and scale across healthcare organizations.
“Longitude Rx will focus on addressing core challenges facing health systems in accessing specialty medications and will collaborate with Longitude Health members to adopt new and innovative approaches to surmount these challenges,” Mango added. “Thakkar’s experience in building top-performing specialty pharmacy operations, along with the talented pharmacy leaders within the Member organizations, will combine to bring well-tested, and well-respected, expertise to the task of shaping this offering to the needs of health systems and their patients.”
Longitude Rx said that while some offerings provide management tools for specialty pharmacy, the company will address the coordination requirements and barriers that patients and providers face with accessing and adhering to specialty medications. It will also focus on building capabilities to allow health systems to be key industry participants in the emerging wave of rare disease-focused therapeutics anticipated to enter the market over the next 5 to 10 years.
