OBJECTIVES: Self-administered medications may be a more practical option for many patients with an autoimmune disease who are being treated with an intravenous (IV) medication. Self-administration offers greater flexibility, convenience and reduces travel costs for patients. Despite these potential benefits, there is limited evidence pertaining to patients’ perspectives on self-administration versus provider-administered IV infusion, as well as the role of health system specialty pharmacy (HSSP) pharmacists in facilitating this transition. The objective of the study is to describe the role of HSSP pharmacists and assess patient experiences after transitioning from provider-administered IV infusion to self-administered treatment in a HSSP setting.

METHODS: This cross-sectional study included patients who were enrolled into HSSP services, diagnosed with an autoimmune condition, and transferred from a provider-administered IV infusion to a self-administered medication from November 2022 to October 2023. Patient interviews were conducted via telephone, using a 6-question survey to evaluate their satisfaction with the self-administered medication. HSSP pharmacists provided education on new therapy, prior authorization (PA) support, and clinical monitoring post-switch.

RESULTS: In total, 15 patients completed the survey. The most common provider-administered IV infusion was infliximab (N=6), while the most common self-administrated medications were abatacept (N=4) and upadacitinib (N=4). More than half of patients (N=8) reported being “very satisfied” using the self-administered treatment; most patients (N=13) considered the self-administration to be “extremely convenient” and “very convenient”. Reported advantages of self-administered treatments were: comfort with self-administration at home (N=5) and desire to decrease time of transportation and treatment (N=5). Approximately 47% of patients reported driving >10 miles to get to the infusion center. HSSP teams submitted PAs for most of the patients (N=13) and successfully secured $357,918 in financial assistance.

CONCLUSIONS: Patients diagnosed with an autoimmune condition expressed remarkable satisfaction with self-administered medications. HSSP played a pivotal role in providing patient education and transitioning patients to self-administered therapies.