Analysis

Reimbursement and Access 2015
August 12-13, 2015 | Philadelphia, PA
www.cbinet.com/reimbursement

Now in its 3rd year, CBI’s Reimbursement and Access provides valuable learning and benchmarking, covering the most important pricing and reimbursement trends and access strategies. In this constantly-evolving healthcare system, attendees benefit from in-depth sessions covering pressing issues, including new payment models, Exchange plan formularies and participation, pharmacy benefit design, ICD-10, global market access, specialty drug pricing, hub models and much more!

Compelling Sessions, Expert Panels and Interactive Discussions Covering:

• The transition from fee-for-service to models of value-based reimbursement
• Strategies to best prepare for ICD-10 program implementation
• In-depth analysis of plan participation, benefit design and formulary coverage in Exchange plans
• The evolution of pharmacy benefit design and utilization management
• Hub design and channel strategies that streamline patient access
• Best practices to overcome patient cost-share and OOP cost challenges
• Complexities in specialty drug dispensing and patient management requirements
• Coupon and co-pay offset initiatives and cost-share structures
• Advancements in technology to streamline patient access

PLUS! Choose Between Three Education Streams on August 12th:

A: Value-Based Contracting and Risk-Share Agreements
B: Managing 340B Program Complexity – Manufacturer’s Perspective
C: Global Market Access Requirements & Strategies


Visit www.cbinet.com/reimbursement for more information. Drug Channels subscribers will save $400 off the standard registration rate when they use code XED653.*

*Cannot be combined with other offers or used towards a current registration. Cannot be combined with special category rates. Other restrictions may apply.

---

The content of Sponsored Posts does not necessarily reflect the views of Pembroke Consulting, Inc., Drug Channels, or any of its employees.

Drug Store News (DSN) has just released its latest rundown of the top pharmacy retailers in the powerfully-titled PoweRx Top Pharmacy Retailers. (Links below.)

As always, I highly recommend the PoweRx list to anyone who competes with, sells to, or otherwise interacts with retail pharmacies. This useful resource provides brief profiles of most organizations.

This year, Walgreens tops the DSN list, with $49 billion in prescription sales. Colorado-based chain Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy is no. 60, with $61 million in prescription sales—0.1% of Walgreens’ revenues.

Below, I show DSN's top 15 chains and highlight how the list differs from our broader but shorter list of 2014’s top retail, mail, and specialty pharmacies.

8th Summit on Managed Care Market Strategies

June 22-23, 2015 | Philadelphia, PA

www.cbinet.com/managedcare

As one of the longest running annual conferences dedicated to managed markets professionals, Managed Care Market Strategies offers a unique opportunity to identify and review proven solutions to demonstrate the value of your product and maximize its positioning in an evolving managed market. Conference highlights include:

• Value based contracting, pricing, and reimbursement
• Update on the impact of Medicaid expansion, growth of ACOs, and health insurance exchanges on pharma
• Key considerations for specialty product reimbursement and access
• Leverage HEOR and CER data for targeted value propositions and to achieve market access

Visit www.cbinet.com/managedcare for more information. Drug Channels subscribers will save $400 off of the standard registration rate when they use code THZ868.*


*Cannot be combined with other offers or used towards a current registration. Cannot be combined with special category rates. Other restrictions may apply.

---

The content of Sponsored Posts does not necessarily reflect the views of Pembroke Consulting, Inc., Drug Channels, or any of its employees.

Today’s guest post comes from Scott Pribyl, CEO of SamplifyRx. Scott discusses RapidPA Score™—an intriguing scoring system for specialty drug prior authorizations. He also reviews the benefits of a cloud-based tool that allows for near real-time prior authorization (NRTPA) approvals. Interesting concept. Check it out.

Scott will be at the 2015 Armada Specialty Pharmacy Summit in Las Vegas next week. Email him at scott@samplifyrx.com to learn more about SamplifyRx’s new, cloud-based PA solution or to set up a meeting.

BTW, Lew Morris, former Chief Counsel to the Inspector General, analyzed how the SamplifyRx solution improves a manufacturer's compliance with OIG guidance for copayment coupons. Click here to download Lew's analysis.

Yesterday, Express Scripts held its latest quarterly call. (See links below for materials.) Along with the usual corporate yada yada yada, the call provided intriguing insights about Express Scripts' strategy and the PBM business model.

Express Scripts addressed its stand-alone PBM model (apparently awesome), likelihood of acquiring a retail chain (nil), recent evaluation of a “strategic transaction” (Catamaran?), and relationship with Walgreens (surprisingly positive).

Below, I provide highlights of the call along with my commentary. It’s sponge-worthy reading for anyone interested in the future of PBMs and the pharmacy industry.

Spring has finally reached Drug Channels' worldwide headquarters! Before your allergies start acting up, please enjoy this month’s selection of news stories from the Drug Channels universe.

In this issue:

• What happens when CVS Health Larry Merlo gives a TED talk?

• Has the 340B Drug Pricing Program Lost Its Way?

• Are Express Scripts’ formulary deals anticompetitive?

• Will generic drug inflation slow?

Plus, a very clever video spoof of every TV news report on the economy. Awesome!

P.S. Help me impress my teenage children by following @Drug Channels on Twitter. As a bonus, you'll get my hand-selected daily updates on notable news and analysis.

Hey there, Drug Channels reader! Want to share your company’s ideas and vision with fellow readers?

Then try a Sponsored Guest Post. These bylined posts let you deliver your thought leadership message directly to the Drug Channels community. They are especially valuable for launching new products and services, because our sponsors can communicate unfiltered messages to our community.

Get further details by emailing Paula Fein, (paula@drugchannelsinstitute.com) Drug Channels Institute’s VP of Business Development (and, yes, also my wife). If you’ll be at next week’s 2015 Armada Specialty Pharmacy Summit, email Paula and set up a meeting.

If you're curious about our reader stats, download the 2015 Drug Channels Media Kit.

In the meantime, check out the fun picture below of Paula and me at last year’s Armada Summit. See you there!

Today’s guest post comes from our friends at Armada Health Care. They describe Armada Health Care’s new web-based software platform for optimizing specialty pharmacy operations, managing prescription workflow, and improving overall patient management.

Read on for highlights. Full details will be revealed at the upcoming 2015 Armada Specialty Pharmacy Summit. If you’ll be there (and I hope you will be), stop by Armada’s booth #313 and learn more about this new product.

Cardinal Health just acquired Metro Medical, the largest independent specialty distributor. There was no public announcement—unless you count my @DrugChannels tweet yesterday morning. So, today's article counts as another Drug Channels exclusive.

It’s a great move for Cardinal, which dramatically expands its small specialty distribution business while gaining access to new practice settings. The Metro deal also puts Cardinal a little closer to the specialty businesses of AmerisourceBergen and McKesson. Below, I provide a few details about specialty distribution market share, Cardinal’s position, and the mysterious Metro Medical.

Hmmm, I wonder if Express Scripts will ever spin off its CuraScript SD business? I can think of at least one Midwestern company that would happily buy it.

Last week, Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) held its first analyst day as a combined company. Click here to download the slides and transcripts. (More detailed links below.)

WBA is a complex, global business with three major divisions and annual revenues of nearly $125 billion. Hence, the analyst “day” was a 2-day, 12 hour affair in which management presented 282 slides and generated a 125 page transcript!

Never fear, Drug Channels reader. I scoured every ounce of this material to find you the most valuable kernels. Below, I highlight my observations about WBA’s Retail Pharmacy USA division, a.k.a. Walgreens. My themes include the U.S. businesses’ changing focus, hypercompetition in the pharmacy industry, payer relationships, specialty pharmacy strategy, previous management’s missteps, and more. Read on for the sweet and salty details.