Portage Pharmacology Module 9 -
Specialty Meds Practice Exam and
Correct Answers 100% Graded to
Pass.
List characteristics that typically describe a specialty drug. - Answer High Cost
Potential for limited or exclusive availability for distribution
Complex treatment regimen that requires ongoing monitoring and patient education
Treat rare diseases
Special handling, storage, or delivery requirements
Treat diseases known t have long term or severe side effects or increased fatality
Biologically derived and available in injection, infusion, or oral form
Payers may define what they consider to be a specialty medication for reimbursement and
contracting purposes.
List some common additional requirements that the specialty pharmacy must offer to patients
in order to ensure that these high cost, potentially high adverse events medications are used
safely and appropriately. - Answer Coordinating care and facilitating the drug access
Case management- disease state management
Facilitating mail order delivery logistics
Product device training when applicable
Working with health insurance to determine coverage and help coordinate any requirements of
the insurance company
Data management of technical and clinical patient care services.
Investigating patient assistance programs for patients without insurance or lack of coverage
Call center development
Explain the process that a patient would need to follow in order to obtain one of these
medications. - Answer The prescription would first be sent to the specialty pharmacy. The
specialty pharmacy then takes responsibility for making sure the patient gets the medication,
understands the risks and benefits, is able to afford it, take it appropriately and follows through
with any necessary monitoring. The patient may be connected with a case manager that will call
them on a monthly basis to make sure there are no issues with the medications, check to see if
they are had any required monitoring, provide any necessary education or answer patient
, List the most chronic disease states that are treated with specialty medications. - Answer
oncology, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDs
List a description of the basic disease process including common symptoms of following disease
states: Rheumatoid arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis, Crohn's disease, Hepatitis C, and HIV - Answer
RA: is a chronic autoimmune disorder that causes inflammation and tissue damage in the joints.
The common symptoms of RA include pain, stiffness, and reduced range of motion.
MS: It disrupts the flow of information within the brain and between the brain and the body.
There is damage to the myelin coating around the nerve fibers in the CNS that cause the nerve
signals to be disrupted. Some of the more common symptoms include Fatigue, difficulty
walking, numbness or tingling, stiffness in the limbs, weakness, vision problems, cognitive
changes, pain, depression and emotional changes.
Crohn's disease is an inflammatory bowel disease caused by inflammation in the digestive tract
which can lead to symptoms such as abdominal pain, severe diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss, and
malnutrition. The inflammation can spread deep into the layers of the affected bowel tissues
making the symptoms extremely painful and often hard to control.
Hepatitis C: a viral infection that caused liver inflammation and sometimes leads to serious liver
damage. The virus is spread through infected blood. There are often no symptoms with Chronic
hepatitis C until the virus damages the liver significantly enough. Symptoms of hepatitis C then
include bleeding and bruising easily, fatigue, poor appetite, dark urine, swelling, weight loss,
confusion.
HIV is s retrovirus that attacks the body's immune system. The typical course of the infection is
characterized by an acute clinical illness that varies in presentation followed by a longer clinical
latency. People may go years without any symptoms. However, during this asymptomatic time
the virus is working in the body to destroy the immune system, specifically the CD-4 Cells (T-
cells). Over time the person is no longer able to fight off bacteria that generally do not cause
infection called opportunistic infect
Define the following terms related to the immune system: Humoral immunity, cell mediated
immunity, Antibodies, T-cells and cytokines. - Answer Humoral immunity is defined as the
immune response mediated by B cells and the production of antibodies targeted against specific
antigens.
Antibodies are molecules that have the ability to bind to and inactivate antigen molecules
through the formation of an antigen-antibody complex.
Cell-mediated immunity which is the immune response mediated by T-cells.
T-cells or T lymphocytes are not involved in the production of antibodies but instead occur in
different types of subtypes that act through direct cell to cell contact or through the production
of cytokines.
Cytokines is a generic term for non-antibody proteins released by specific cell populations
(activated T cells) on contact with antigens. They act as intercellular mediators of an immune
Specialty Meds Practice Exam and
Correct Answers 100% Graded to
Pass.
List characteristics that typically describe a specialty drug. - Answer High Cost
Potential for limited or exclusive availability for distribution
Complex treatment regimen that requires ongoing monitoring and patient education
Treat rare diseases
Special handling, storage, or delivery requirements
Treat diseases known t have long term or severe side effects or increased fatality
Biologically derived and available in injection, infusion, or oral form
Payers may define what they consider to be a specialty medication for reimbursement and
contracting purposes.
List some common additional requirements that the specialty pharmacy must offer to patients
in order to ensure that these high cost, potentially high adverse events medications are used
safely and appropriately. - Answer Coordinating care and facilitating the drug access
Case management- disease state management
Facilitating mail order delivery logistics
Product device training when applicable
Working with health insurance to determine coverage and help coordinate any requirements of
the insurance company
Data management of technical and clinical patient care services.
Investigating patient assistance programs for patients without insurance or lack of coverage
Call center development
Explain the process that a patient would need to follow in order to obtain one of these
medications. - Answer The prescription would first be sent to the specialty pharmacy. The
specialty pharmacy then takes responsibility for making sure the patient gets the medication,
understands the risks and benefits, is able to afford it, take it appropriately and follows through
with any necessary monitoring. The patient may be connected with a case manager that will call
them on a monthly basis to make sure there are no issues with the medications, check to see if
they are had any required monitoring, provide any necessary education or answer patient
, List the most chronic disease states that are treated with specialty medications. - Answer
oncology, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDs
List a description of the basic disease process including common symptoms of following disease
states: Rheumatoid arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis, Crohn's disease, Hepatitis C, and HIV - Answer
RA: is a chronic autoimmune disorder that causes inflammation and tissue damage in the joints.
The common symptoms of RA include pain, stiffness, and reduced range of motion.
MS: It disrupts the flow of information within the brain and between the brain and the body.
There is damage to the myelin coating around the nerve fibers in the CNS that cause the nerve
signals to be disrupted. Some of the more common symptoms include Fatigue, difficulty
walking, numbness or tingling, stiffness in the limbs, weakness, vision problems, cognitive
changes, pain, depression and emotional changes.
Crohn's disease is an inflammatory bowel disease caused by inflammation in the digestive tract
which can lead to symptoms such as abdominal pain, severe diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss, and
malnutrition. The inflammation can spread deep into the layers of the affected bowel tissues
making the symptoms extremely painful and often hard to control.
Hepatitis C: a viral infection that caused liver inflammation and sometimes leads to serious liver
damage. The virus is spread through infected blood. There are often no symptoms with Chronic
hepatitis C until the virus damages the liver significantly enough. Symptoms of hepatitis C then
include bleeding and bruising easily, fatigue, poor appetite, dark urine, swelling, weight loss,
confusion.
HIV is s retrovirus that attacks the body's immune system. The typical course of the infection is
characterized by an acute clinical illness that varies in presentation followed by a longer clinical
latency. People may go years without any symptoms. However, during this asymptomatic time
the virus is working in the body to destroy the immune system, specifically the CD-4 Cells (T-
cells). Over time the person is no longer able to fight off bacteria that generally do not cause
infection called opportunistic infect
Define the following terms related to the immune system: Humoral immunity, cell mediated
immunity, Antibodies, T-cells and cytokines. - Answer Humoral immunity is defined as the
immune response mediated by B cells and the production of antibodies targeted against specific
antigens.
Antibodies are molecules that have the ability to bind to and inactivate antigen molecules
through the formation of an antigen-antibody complex.
Cell-mediated immunity which is the immune response mediated by T-cells.
T-cells or T lymphocytes are not involved in the production of antibodies but instead occur in
different types of subtypes that act through direct cell to cell contact or through the production
of cytokines.
Cytokines is a generic term for non-antibody proteins released by specific cell populations
(activated T cells) on contact with antigens. They act as intercellular mediators of an immune
