Enhance your value story.

We are equally focused on clinical management as we are on pricing and affordability. Our reporting is designed to highlight trends, including clinical utilization while identifying medication appropriateness interventions. Our team of experts will make recommendations to help strategize your plan spending.

The key is simple: overall medical cost reduction by ensuring the most cost-appropriate, efficacious therapy is used the first time.

Assessment, development, deployment, and monitoring of interventions are all performed with one sole purpose – improving adherence and outcomes. Innovative and traditional techniques are deployed, and key metrics are followed. We innovate the industry through expert clinical solutions.

ASCEND has options to make your specialty benefit work best for your needs. Our network includes both, the largest specialty pharmacies in the U.S. and a value-based specialty pharmacy.

ASCEND’s industry-leading capabilities manage the fastest-growing area of all healthcare costs - specialty pharmaceuticals and their administration of them.

While only a few patients account for the disproportionate share of total healthcare costs, aggressive utilization management strategies are necessary to manage these costs, including:

• Preferred drug strategies with exclusions for both traditional and specialty medications through a nationally recognized formulary

• Verifying products are utilized by members only where they have a positive end-state impact, and an enhanced option to limit utilization of new-to-market therapies to members who require immediate treatment

• Promoting and monitoring adherence to the full therapy regimen for successful treatment

• Pharmacist and nursing support to address all aspects of the member’s condition

• Support for generic opportunities through plan design, utilization management protocols, and member conversations to increase GFR and lower specialty trend

Our Health Economics Return & Outcomes Score measures your claims-level data to impactful variables that assess the financial impact of specialty pharmaceuticals on the plan design.

Whether a single, individual case or a population group, ASCEND measures the value, outcomes, and cost of the fastest growing area of healthcare spending due to specialty medications.

ASCEND’s compounding strategy drives greater control of rising compound costs and utilization trends while addressing key safety, efficacy, and quality risks associated with current compounding practices.

As a part of our core services, we offer a two-fold strategy to manage compounds - exclusion and PA with a $300 threshold – and help address the current and future compound drug issues.

Designed to target both high-cost individual ingredients within compounds, as well as high-cost compound prescriptions, we continue to provide access for members when commercially available products are either not available at all, or not available in a dosage form that meets the need of the patient. This optional program is an optimal balance of safety, cost-efficiency, quality, and accessibility of compound medications.

ASCEND provides added convenience through home delivery of maintenance medications, refill reminders, generic incentive programs, and online access for members to manage their prescriptions.

Established, nationally recognized regional mail pharmacies support the ASCENDpbm offering and serve as a virtual service operation across the nation with unparalleled technical & physical redundancy.

The Mail Order program fully integrates with the retail network, making the implementation seamless. We offer clients and members reduced costs, better quality, and an optimal service experience.

We offer programs to support the unique needs of our clients and their members. Our experience ranges from self-funded employer groups, TPAs, national employers, manufacturing, education, municipal/county/state government, and union sectors providing a tailored specific approach for each client.

ASCEND works hand-in-hand with our clients to design programs and pharmacy services for your population group. Dedicated Account Managers are assigned to each group after contracting to ensure a smooth implementation process throughout your plan.

The following areas are highlights of our services:

• Implementation is key to future success. Based on past experience, the initial plan setup is crucial to long-term success and plan adjudication accuracy. We play an integral role by monitoring the entire implementation process from start to finish. We ensure clinicians are present to explain processes, eligibility, and benefits are fully tested and assure the performance guarantees are met. We are available to provide information and guidance to lead the client through a thorough, timely, and successful program.

• Data and analysis make all the difference. We review claim pricing, plan design, and rebates throughout the course of the year. We will deliver reports to you to demonstrate the performance of the plan. If and when we identify issues or anomalies, ASCEND will notify the client and/or broker, document back to the PBM and keep the client informed as we work through the issues in question. These processes ensure we deliver value throughout the relationship.

• Account Management. Our involvement will be defined by the client. ASCEND will look at areas for improvement ranging from educational programs, administrative programs, benefit plan structure, dispensing avenues, and clinical aspects throughout your plan timeline to ensure optimal efficiency and plan performance.

Our retail network offers more than 65,000+ pharmacies nationwide including major chains, independent pharmacies, and well-known retail locations. Our PBM program combines one of the largest retail pharmacy chains in the nation with our integrated pharmacy care structure enabling us to capitalize upon multiple strengths from innovative solutions for access, engaging clinical care programs, and optimizing savings.

We understand controlling costs remains a high priority for plans. Managed networks offer incremental savings or preferential pricing to support existing management strategies without sacrificing quality. With a focus on reduced drug spending, increased GFR, and overall enhanced member satisfaction, our network options offer the following:

• 30 and 90-day strategies that reduce pharmacy spend

• Optimize savings for both maintenance and acute medications

• Out-of-pocket member cost savings

• Increased medication adherence

• Access to high-quality prescription providers

• Customized strategies to meet state and federal regulations

• Compounding services to reduce opioid use

• Quality specialty services and administration

Personalized medicine determines the right drug and right dose for the patient the first time. Pharmacogenetic testing reveals a patient’s medication metabolism and provides specific guidance on which medications to use or avoid and the recommended dosage adjustments.

Testing eliminates waste – both, time and money – by avoiding the current “one size fits all” trial and error process. Lowering adverse events and increasing clinical efficiencies while improving patient quality of life can amount to substantially lower healthcare costs. This is the healthcare industry’s leading advancement of the decade and a sound investment. ASCEND offers comprehensive, multiple labs and specific panels.