Why are retail pharmacies still employing traditional PBMs?

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores’ (NACDS) Annual Meeting was held last week in Palm Beach, FL. The event hosted senior executives from national, regional, and statewide pharmacy and grocery chains, who gathered to discuss the major issues and opportunities facing the pharmacy industry.

As anticipated, one of the most fiercely discussed topics was the industry’s increasingly fraught relationship with the largest pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs). In a recently published explainer video, the NACDS highlights how traditional PBM business practices negatively impact patients and their pharmacies, and champions new models that fairly compensate pharmacies, incentivize improved health outcomes, and lower overall healthcare costs.

The industry’s sentiment against traditional PBMs comes as no surprise to Danny S. , President of EmpiRx Health. “The fact is, the largest PBMs continue to operate using a fundamentally flawed and disingenuous business model that prioritizes drug volume to fuel profits. It’s a model built on misaligned incentives, and it pays short shrift to what truly matters—the health outcomes of patients and the long-term success of plan sponsors.”

Sanchez was joined at the event by his EmpiRx Health colleagues Ziad Rubaie , Chief Growth Officer, and Shannon Strickland, PharmD , Vice President of Business Development. Together, the delegation addressed head-on the negative business practices of traditional PBMs, and shared how EmpiRx Health’s value-based approach to pharmacy benefits offers a better way for pharmacies and their employee populations. 

EmpiRx Health stands alone as the industry’s only value-based PBM, shattering the misconception that savings must come at the expense of quality healthcare. We have redefined the conventional volume-oriented benefits model through a Population Health Management solution that centers pharmacists within patient care teams to optimize health and financial outcomes. 

“Here’s the radical part of what differentiates our company from traditional PBMs,” said Sanchez. “We totally deliver on our unique value- and health outcomes-based promise while also guaranteeing our clients’ financial results. EmpiRx Health has revolutionized the pharmacy benefits space by utilizing a population health management approach to tailor its clinical strategy to each client’s population.”

Sanchez, Rubaie, and Strickland’s primary objective at the NACDS meeting was to highlight the stark differences in PBM business approaches, and they certainly provided key stakeholders from across the retail pharmacy industry with food for thought.  “We believe the leading pharmacy and grocery chains are doing no favors for their employee populations by continuing to work with the big, legacy PBM companies,” he said.

“Clearly, the business practices of the major PBMs are diametrically opposed to the core principles of patient trust, accessibility, and value that are the hallmarks of the pharmacy industry and pharmacists,” Sanchez continued. “Why then do these retail pharmacy companies still employ traditional PBMs to provide pharmacy service to their own employee populations?”