Express Scripts, Pinnacle Provide Path to Faster Rare Disease Diagnosis, Treatment

For any patient with a rare disease, the journey to the right diagnosis and treatment can be long and difficult. On average, it can take 7.6 years and seven different doctors before a patient suffering from the symptoms of a rare disease finally receives a correct diagnosis. Even then, determining the best treatment and managing the complexities of any rare disease can require expertise that many physicians lack given the relatively small patient population affected by the condition. Many times, a second opinion from an expert can help resolve clinical questions and bring emotional reassurance to patients struggling with the symptoms of a rare disease.

Express Scripts (NASDAQ: ESRX) today announced a new Rare Conditions Care Value^SM (RCCV) program with the introduction of a support service known as Second Opinion in partnership with PinnacleCare® a private health advisory firm that offers personalized guidance and expert case review. Members whose plan enrolls in the RCCV program will have free access to Second Opinion, a potentially life-altering service that offers a second opinion from a top specialist in the field who will provide an expert assessment of the diagnosis and recommendations on the most effective treatment protocol.

The Second Opinion support service addresses the challenges that patients with rare diseases face in securing a diagnosis and treatment. In doing so, Second Opinion helps reduce the emotional, physical and financial burden on patients and plan sponsors associated with misdiagnosis, waste and inappropriate treatments, which can cost millions of dollars and impact years of a patient’s life. Among patients who have used PinnacleCare services, nearly 77 percent of engagements have resulted in a change of diagnosis, treatment or care, when working in coordination with a patient’s pharmacy benefit manager and medical benefit plan.

“The years spent going to different doctors, getting myriad medical tests, managing paperwork and experimenting with numerous treatments is an ordeal for patients and their health, as well as for those who love and care for them,” said Glen Stettin, M.D., senior vice president of clinical, research and new solutions at Express Scripts. “Getting to the right diagnosis and the right therapy is critically important for the more than 30 million Americans currently with a rare disease. Combining the benefits of PinnacleCare’s Second Opinion program with the expertise and care delivered by the specialist pharmacists in our Accredo Specialty Pharmacy can make a tremendous difference in the patient’s quality of life and substantially reduce wasteful spending.”

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