IgG Therapy for the Home-Based Patient: Administration and ... - NHIA

Author Bios:
Hetty Lima, R.Ph., FASHP, is the Vice President of Specialty Infusion
and Rare Diseases at Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy in Flint,
Michigan. An accomplished health care executive with more
than 27 years of home infusion/specialty pharmacy experience,
she has held executive leadership positions at providers such as
Baxter Healthcare, CVS/Caremark’s Specialty Pharmacy division,
and Coram’s Hemophilia Services division. A graduate of the University
of Rhode Island, Lima is also the past President of the
American Society of Health­System Pharmacists’ (ASHP’s) Section
of Home Care Practitioners. She has lectured at national and
international pharmacy and nursing meetings and has published
extensively on the clinical and practical aspects of home infusion
and specialty pharmacy. Her work has appeared in numerous
pharmacy and nursing journals and pharmaceutical texts.
Amy Clarke, R.N., is a registered nurse and has practiced in the
home infusion arena since 1994, as Director of Nursing for the
Chicago locations of Chartwell Diversified Services and Option
Care’s Home Infusion Therapy Pharmacies. Clarke has provided clinical
education on infusion therapy and specialty medications to
nursing staff (internal and external), pharmacists, physicians, and
social workers. She has presented continuing education presentations
to some of the nation’s top payers including various Blue
Cross Blue Shield plans, Humana, Aetna and United Healthcare.
Clarke has a particular passion for immunoglobulin therapy, having
personally performed over 1,500 IV and SC infusions to date.
Working with home infusion pharmacy in the 1990s she observed
that IVIG was not well understood by nursing staff, pharmacies,
payers, and in many instances the physicians themselves. She has
developed multiple presentations on IVIG administration
specifics, as well as the “ins and outs” of subcutaneous IG therapy.
Clarke has developed a successful national IgG program as
Program Manager for Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy.
AUTHOR DISCLOSURE STATEMENT:
The authors declare no conflicts of interest or financial interest
in any product or service mentioned in this program,
including grants, employment, gifts, stock
holdings, and honoraria. This article may include discussion
of off­label/investigational drug use but in a fair and
unbiased manner. Hetty Lima and her sons use medications
from the sponsoring organization (CSL Behring) to
treat Von Willebrand’s Disease.
IgG Therapy for the Home­Based Patient: Administration and Delivery Method Considerations 1