Overview

Orphalan is building a Commercial team in the United States in preparation of the launch of FDA-approved Cuvrior™. This is an exciting opportunity to join and help build our United States team, as one of the first hires on this journey.

The Associate Director, Patient Support Services will manage the operations of the Patient Services hub, including financial assistance and free drug programs. The Associate Director will also be responsible for managing day-to-day operations of Cuvrior's sole Specialty Pharmacy, including non-commercial and commercial drug dispensing and ongoing adherence programs. The AD will serve as a "quarterback" between the Hub, SP, and field market access team members to ensure a seamless patient and provider experience accessing Cuvrior. Finally, on an ongoing basis, the AD will assess and adapt the services and strategy continuously to ensure that patients have timely and affordable access to their therapy throughout their treatment journey.

The successful candidate will have a demonstrable commitment to working for patient-focused pharmaceutical companies and understand the need for engagement with the Wilson Disease community in a compliant manner.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership, oversight, and management for the effective functioning of the hub and SP by establishing and monitoring program goals and key performance indicators. Bring an analytic rigor to the patient services discipline and assist the commercial business make data driven decisions.
• Ensures close management of each patient case, identifying any patient specific barriers to access, through daily collaboration across all stakeholders (e.g. Patient, provider, Hub/SP, field access). Serve as the main triage point with SP/HUB and field access team to ensure that each patient is appropriately supported through the reimbursement process.
• Ensure ongoing operational excellence of hub and other support program partners, through close management of contractual service level agreements (SLAs) and quality programs.
• Understand both the nuances of individual cases and be able to offer guidance to hub staff as well as recognize trends and patterns that must be addressed to meet the overall needs of patients and the business.
• Develops and updates as needed a comprehensive business rules document detailing Hub and SP processes, partnering closely with legal to ensure compliance.
• Responsible for all Hub/SP external patient and provider communications, including any changes to the patient support website, in partnership with marketing. Champions pieces as needed through the internal promotional medical/legal/regulatory review process.
• Ensure hub performance is communicated to key stakeholders by developing and implementing performance dashboards and improvement plans as needed.
• Assesses, plans, recommends, and executes strategies addressing patient-level barriers to product access. Partner with key stakeholders in Sales, Medical, and Marketing to ensure optimal communication and pull through of programs.
• Lead innovation and drive program enhancements that will optimize customer service and patient access to therapies by identifying emerging opportunities.
• Collaborate with patient advocacy function to support specific disease related, national, and global patient organizations to understand needs and communicate Orphalan's solutions.
• Travel as necessary with Field Sales, Marketing, Market Access to visit accounts/make presentations about company's reimbursement strategy and services; attend commercial and other relevant business-related meetings.
• Build and develop productive working relationships with external service providers and internal cross-functional stakeholders, such as data aggregators, specialty pharmacies and internal commercial operations and legal teams.
• Ensure effective and compliant implementation of Patient Financial Assistance programs.
• Partner with Orphalan's Legal team to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

Job Requirements

• 8+ years of experience within the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industries, with at least 5 years in patient support.
• Demonstrated ability to build organizational capability and deep experience developing and managing manufacturer hub operations or specialty drug patient services/call center. Experience with internal and external hub models a plus.
• Knowledge of US payer coverage and reimbursement environment, CMS policies pertaining to access services as a result of the Affordable Care Act, and pharmaceutical channel dynamics. In depth understanding of commercial insurance and Medicare (Part D) required.
• In depth knowledge of pharmaceutical manufacturer compliance, patient confidentiality, product reimbursement and product access requirements.
• Knowledge of regulations and laws governing the protection of patient identifying information.
• Proven track record developing and delivering patient access and continuity of care services in a high impact and cost-effective way.
• Launch experience, specifically of oral specialty drugs is highly valued; Rare disease experience is a plus.