Walgreens earns enterprise-wide URAC Specialty Pharmacy accreditation 

Walgreens has earned the first enterprise-wide URAC Specialty Pharmacy accreditation for its network of more than 300 community specialty pharmacies. The company had previously received the URAC Specialty Pharmacy accreditation for select locations. 

“Securing this accreditation from URAC reinforces Walgreens industry-leading specialty pharmacy care among patients, payors, prescribers and health plans,” Rina Shah, Walgreens group vice president of specialty and retail pharmacy, said. “We recognize that patients with life-changing and serious health challenges often need high-touch support from their pharmacy team. Our unique model of specialty pharmacy care embedded locally within our patients’ communities is critical to providing individualized support to patients with help accessing their medications, understanding their treatment and remaining adherent.”

Walgreens said that its community-based network of specialty pharmacies allows for more individualized support when managing chronic and complex conditions, including HIV, hepatitis C, cancer, infertility, cystic fibrosis and other conditions. They offer such services as injection training coordination, side effect management and coordination of financial assistance for specialty medications.

“By rolling up its sleeves to attain a tough URAC accreditation, Walgreens is demonstrating its commitment to performing at the highest possible level and serving the health care needs of its specialty pharmacy customers,” Shawn Griffin, president and CEO at URAC said. “Patients who use Walgreens community-based specialty pharmacies should rest assured that they’re working with a partner operating with high quality at each of their more than 300 locations.”

The process for earning accreditation included a review of Walgreens’ patient management standards, policies and procedures, as well as randomly selected site audits from URAC.