Dear Colleagues,

It’s been a busy spring thus far for the PAN team! In February, we hosted our third annual Cost-Sharing Roundtable in partnership with The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®)—learn more about the event here. We met several provider and pharmacy partners at recent conferences, including CBI’s Patient Assistance and Access Programs and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network in March, and the Community Oncology Alliance conference in April. And we established a new assistance program for people living with bladder cancer!

 

We’re also making some policy changes to be sure we are helping the maximum number of patients possible—check out our Grant Use Policy article below for details.

 

With each activity, enhancement or policy update at PAN, our focus remains on our patients and the providers and pharmacies who serve them. You play a vital role, and we want to hear from you. What support can we provide you? Do you have questions about our enhanced portals? Don’t hesitate to reach out and let us know. We’ll be sharing additional educational webinars in the near future, and we’d love to know what topics you would like to see covered.

 

As always, feel free to reach out to me directly at aazam@panfoundation.org or 202-347-4451. I look forward to continuing to work together!

 

Kind regards,

Ayesha Azam

Senior Director of Medical Affairs

Grant Use Policy

We recently shared information on our Grant Use Policy, which will be implemented on May 7, 2018. The PAN Foundation remains committed to helping as many patients as possible. Our Grant Use Policy will allow us to make the best use of our donations, create more grants and help more patients. As a reminder, the Grant Use Policy is outlined below. If you have questions, please reach out to Ayesha Azam at aazam@panfoundation.org or 202-347-4451.

 

PAN Releases New Issue Briefs

"Increasing Out-of-Pocket Drug Costs Among Medicare Beneficiaries"

Considerable research demonstrates that out-of-pocket (OOP) costs for prescription medications remain a serious problem for a large number of Medicare beneficiaries, despite their prescription drug coverage. Beneficiaries’ OOP drug costs result from the combined impact of high rates of chronic disease that require multiple medications, economic insecurity and the absence of a cap on OOP drug costs. Read PAN's Issue Brief here , which examines the intersection of chronic illness and OOP drug costs, and trends that are driving increases in these costs over time.

"Links Between Financial Hardship and Out-of-Pocket Drug Costs"

Access to medically necessary healthcare is critical for successful patient outcomes, yet access is often impeded or blocked entirely by cost sharing. Interested in learning more about the connections between financial hardship and out-of-pocket drug costs among economically vulnerable patients? PAN’s latest Issue Brief explores this, and how financial assistance and other supports can help alleviate some of these challenges. Read it here .

PAN Establishes Bladder Cancer Assistance Program

We are pleased to announce a new assistance program for patients living with bladder cancer. Please be advised that availability is on a first-come, first-served basis.

 

Bladder Cancer Assistance Program

Quick Tip: Fund Reopen Notification List

Are you adding your patients to the fund reopen notification list? This is a great way for you and your patients to stay up-to-date on disease fund openings, and it means you won’t have to keep checking the PAN website or calling to stay informed. If you have multiple patients in need of assistance, be sure to add all of them to the list so we know how many more patients need support.

 

Log into your Provider Portal account today to add your patients!

Provider Toolbox: Uploading Claims

Need to upload a claim to the PAN Provider Portal? For optimal claims processing on the Provider Portal, be sure your claims are legible and uploaded in PDF format only.

Provider Spotlight: Erin Hughes, Financial Advocate, Abington-Jefferson Health

Where do you work and what is your position?

I am a financial advocate at Roosevelt Cancer Center within Abington-Jefferson Health. I’ve been with Abington-Jefferson Health for 11 years, working in hematology/oncology for the past three and a half years. We have a 15-chair infusion room now, and in a few months we’re moving to a new facility where we will double in size.

 

What do you enjoy about your job?

There is so much. I love to make connections with the patients. The most rewarding part is when we are able to find financial assistance for them, and we can hear or see the relief they experience knowing that there is help out there. Many of our patients are not working or are taking a leave of absence during their treatment, and their financial situation has changed.

 

Can you share how the PAN Foundation helped one of your patients?

We had an older patient who lived with her sister, and finances were an issue for them. The patient’s sister was planning to use her life savings—which wasn’t an exorbitant amount of money—to pay for her sister’s treatment. It was beyond stressful because she didn’t know how they were going to pay their taxes, pay for the plumbing in their home, etc. We met with the patient and her sister and registered her right away. They are ever so grateful to not have to use her life savings. You would have thought they won the lottery. It really humbles me to have this job. I feel so fortunate that there are organizations like yours that can truly help people.

Map of PAN Claims Submitted by Providers and Pharmacies

Providers and pharmacists from across the country connect their patients to PAN. Curious about where most of our claims come from? Check out our map of claims submitted by providers and pharmacies in the past 12 months!