Analysis

Today’s guest post comes from Scott Pribyl, CEO of mRx Ventures. He describes SamplifyRx, a cloud-based hub and virtual marketplace of patient support services that manages every touch-point in the specialty drug workflow process.

Scott will be at the Armada Specialty Pharmacy Summit & Expo. To learn more about his intriguing software platform, email him at scott@samplifyrx.com or connect via his Armada Summit profile page.

Worthwhile article. Check it out.

Welcome to my latest round-up of noteworthy news stories from the Drug Channels ecosystem. In this issue:

• Inversion—How a Pfizer/AstraZeneca deal could trigger a Walgreens headquarters move

• Reversion—Why UnitedHealthcare won't block retail co-pay cards…for now

• Subversion—Pharmacies stop New York’s AAC efforts

Plus, The Onion provides valuable advice for pharmacies looking to boost their Medicare star ratings.

The just-released EMD Serono Specialty Digest (10th edition) provides a vast playlist of data on health plans’ specialty drug management strategies and tools. You can download it free with registration here: http://specialtydigest.emdserono.com/

This year, I was struck by health plans’ dissatisfaction with specialty pharmacies’ clinical and reporting metrics. For many core services, 50% or more of plans gave specialty pharmacies a rating of 3 or lower (out of a possible 5). The charts (below) show an unexpectedly wide gap between specialty pharmacies’ self-professed capabilities and health plans’ perceptions.

The survey echoes the study I discuss in Employers Pick Specialty Pharmacies Over Retail Drugstores—For Now. That survey found that a majority of employers perceive that clinical programs are comparable or better at retail pharmacies than at specialty pharmacies.

A manufacturer must be careful when contracting with a specialty pharmacy that promises to be your savior, steadfast and true. These new data also reinforce my belief that limited specialty dispensing networks will continue to become larger and more inclusive. Hey, hey, hey: That's what I say.

Don’t miss this exclusive opportunity to network with peers on ways to improve the wholesaler chargeback, managed markets contracting, and rebate administration processes at the Contracts, Chargebacks and Rebates Congress. Now in it’s 10th year, the event takes place June 23-24, 2014 in Philadelphia.

Complex government pricing regulations, multiple marketing promotions and the lack of coordination between departments costs the pharmaceutical industry on average $40 million for every $1 billion in annual revenues. Companies need an integrated, streamlined solution to avoid revenue leakage and capture potential savings related to their contract sales.

What Can You Expect in 2014…

• Content track dedicated to Contract and Chargeback Process Excellence

• Content track dedicated to Managed Market Rebate and Discount Strategies

• An in-conference workshop on Unraveling 340B program complexities

Visit www.cbinet.com/chargebacks to learn more!

Drug Channels clients and subscribers can save $400 off of the standard registration rate* with promotional code FNX329. (Cannot be combined with other offers or used towards a current registration. Other restrictions may apply.)

Drug Store News (DSN) just released it latest rundown of the top pharmacy retailers in the powerfully-titled POWERx Top 50 list. Click here for for this free download.

I highly recommend the POWERx list to anyone who competes with, sell to, or interacts with retail pharmacies. This useful resource provides brief profiles of all 50 organizations. These range from CVS (#1, with $45.6 billion in prescription sales) to Ritzman Pharmacy (#50, with $58 million in prescription sales). Consistent with last year’s list, the largest chain drugstore dispenses nearly 800 times as much as the 50th largest drugstore.

Below, I show DSN's top 20 largest pharmacies and contrast the list with our 2013 list of top retail, mail, and specialty pharmacies.

As a bonus, we also have an exclusive, must-see video of Rob Eder and the Drug Store News dancers.

Time for our exclusive annual analysis of pharmacist salaries, based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) latest 2013 Occupational Employment Statistics (OES).

Once again, pharmacist salaries grew faster than overall U.S. wages. The highlights:

• In 2013, the average gross salary for a pharmacist at a retail, mail, and specialty pharmacy was $117,500—up 1.1% from 2012.

• Average salaries for pharmacists at mass merchants climbed above $121,000.

• Of the 820 detailed occupations that BLS lists in the OES survey, the “pharmacist” classification ranked 29th in compensation.

• Retail, mail, and specialty pharmacists’ salaries are 57% higher than the average healthcare figure.

Details below. I also highlight a neat paper that analyzes how the growth of national chains turned pharmacy into a family-friendly, female-majority profession with a very small gender wage gap. It's a new twist on how free-market industry evolution can lead to positive social outcomes.

Drug Channels Institute (DCI) is pleased to announce the release of our updated Pharmaceutical Wholesalers: Business Strategies and Financial Economics e-learning module. Click here to view an excerpt of this module.

This e-learning module offers a thorough, interactive grounding in important topics related to the wholesale industry, including: business services, customer relationships, financial economics, and more. It will help:

• Account reps and field teams grasp important, easily-digestible industry concepts for their key accounts

• Internal teams better understand their customers and channels

• Anyone who wants to master the economics of the U.S. pharmaceutical wholesale industry

If you are a qualified potential buyer, you can review the complete module by contacting Paula Fein (paula@drugchannelsinstitute.com), VP of Business Development. You can also set up a meeting with Paula (pictured at right) at the Armada Specialty Pharmacy Summit. #ArmadaSRx14

Click here to view the full description of Pharmaceutical Wholesalers: Business Strategies and Financial Economics.

Below is a message from our friends at Armada, who developed a cool smartphone app for the upcoming Armada Specialty Pharmacy Summit & Expo.

After using the app for a few days, I can personally recommend it to everyone who is attending. I'm particularly impressed with the ability to search and sort the entire attendee list. Kudos to Armada for helping to maximize the Summit's networking value. Be sure to download this free app before arriving in Las Vegas. Links below.

P.S. If you've signed up for the conference, then your basic profile already exists. Log in to add your photo and contact info.

Get Connected and Download the Armada Specialty Pharmacy Summit & Expo App!

The 10th Annual Armada Specialty Pharmacy Summit & Expo will be held on May 5-9, 2014, at The Wynn in Las Vegas. This annual health care meeting is the industry’s largest gathering of specialty pharmacy stakeholders and related organizations. Thousands of attendees representing over 700 industry companies and organizations are expected. They will gather together to learn how to effectively contract and partner within this segment, manage the specialty spend, and navigate the evolving health care landscape for the specialty patient.

This year, Armada is debuting a new mobile and web app for the Summit, which will serve as a tool to allow all attendees to maximize their networking opportunities before, during, and after the meeting. The app is available for download on iTunes at http://armada.ht/1cMJuNu and on Google Play at http://armada.ht/1cMJT2F.

"We are thrilled to unveil our brand new mobile app in 2014. This dynamic tool will create new opportunities for personalization, connection, and engagement during the meeting," noted Randi Hernandez, senior communications manager, Armada Health Care. "App users can now easily access the meeting attendee list, view speaker slide decks and handouts, and connect with colleagues, all with the swipe of a fingertip."

The mobile app will help conference participants sort through details about fellow attendees (including company and title), send messages, request meetings with colleagues, and personalize event schedules. The app also contains a “Chatter” section, which features attendee comments and displays Tweets related to the Summit.

"With the help of the mobile app, networking connections can be proactive and purposeful, rather than fortuitous," commented Robert Irene, RPh, co-founder and president, Armada Health Care. "Our adoption of this type of technology is important, as we believe these tools can serve as powerful engagement platforms during a conference of this size. Attendees are coming to expect mobile apps at events in addition to printed programs, and we are meeting the demand by helping participants maximize their opportunities for increased engagement and efficiency."

As I discuss in Chapter 8 of the 2013-14 Economic Report on Retail, Mail, and Specialty Pharmacies, the growth in oral oncology products is encouraging physicians to dispense these products from offices and clinics. These practice-affiliated pharmacies act as “closed door” pharmacies by dispensing only to the practice’s patients.

For an insider’s perspective, check out a great video interview (below) with Ray Bailey, PharmD, Pharmacy Director for Florida Cancer Specialists (FCS), one of the largest U.S. oncology/hematology practices.

FCS operates Rx to Go, a specialty pharmacy that acts a central fill service for FCS’s 81 locations. Rx to Go dispenses more than 3,000 prescriptions per month. Most are oral oncolytics. (Note that Dr. Bailey misspoke on the video and said "3,000 prescriptions per day.")

As this video illustrates, manufacturers developing a specialty channel strategy should consider practice-affiliated pharmacies. It also highlights why Express Scripts partnered with Raintree Oncology Services.

According to yesterday’s Financial Times, powerful investors are actively lobbying Walgreens to move its headquarters to Europe. Here’s the story: Walgreens urged to leave US to gain tax benefit.

Yes, this is the infamous “tax inversion” strategy that I analyzed in last month's Inversion Uncertainty: Is Alliance Boots Really Acquiring Walgreens?

Walgreens responded to the news story with a surprisingly vague statement about its plans. Hmmm. Is management buying time, or seriously considering a move? Read on for details over controversy.