The Importance of Health Care Equity in Specialty Pharmacy | Asembia 2025

When it comes to the role of pharmacists in facilitating health care equity, there are several practices that allow specialty pharmacies to uphold the importance of equity within the delivery of care. Whether it’s ensuring improved outcomes across patient populations or optimizing effective treatment regimens, it’s also important to focus on the quality of care—which goes hand-in-hand with health care equity.

“Equity is a core part of quality,” said Shawn Griffin, MD, FAAFP, President and CEO of URAC. “Whenever you’re looking at quality outcomes, accreditation is about improving quality above and beyond simply the minimum requirements. If you’re looking at equity, you’re really looking at ‘Okay, I’m getting some outcomes that I want to get, but maybe not everybody is getting the same benefits, so what is my plan for addressing those things?’ If you never look for those things, you’re never going to find those things.”

Griffin, who leads what was formerly known as the Utilization Review Accreditation Commission (URAC), sat down with Drug Topics at Asembia’s AXS25 Summit, held April 27 to May 1 in Las Vegas, Nevada. In our discussion with Griffin, he explored the importance of health care equity in specialty pharmacy and how his organization works to ensure pharmacies are upholding certain accredited standards.

He explored several perspectives of health care equity within specialty pharmacy, from the patients they serve and their treatment regimens to the pharmacists and their leaders who help facilitate the practice. Explore this discussion with Griffin and gain insights into the ways specialty pharmacies uphold health care equity and quality in their day-to-day tasks.

Read More of Our Coverage: Asembia Specialty Pharmacy Summit

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