The PBM Apocalypse, What Do We Do?
By Dr. Nicolette Mathey
PBM’s have come out swinging in early 2020, with CVS Caremark leading the pack. Prime isn’t far behind. A lot of pharmacies are struggling and being put on notice. This year will make or break a lot of us. Luckily, we pharmacy owners are used to these sort of bullying tactics. We’re smart enough, passionate enough, and know that our businesses, our employees, their families, our patients, and prescribers deserve our very best.
We deserve more. Most of us run multi-million dollar businesses. PBM revenue should only be a part of the pie. What else is your pharmacy doing to bring in revenue to cover your overhead? How does your monthly nut compare to others? How are we innovating and asking our patients and providers “what else” we can do for them? What else do their patients need? Every time I see the store in the mall selling macaroons, a fire ignites inside me saying “If this guy can pay his high rent selling macaroons, we pharmacy owners can surely figure it out. We can’t afford not to.
Am I overly optimistic, yes. Will a set strategy work in every pharmacy, every market, no. But we have to unite, collaborate, and do something!
One of the first things I learned about pharmacy is that if you’re not growing, you’re dying. Percent of new fills should always be strong compared to refills, and pharmacy owners need to focus on strategic growth and business development continually. While it can be challenging to keep all the balls in the air as a pharmacist, pharmacy owner, and business development expert (among many many other things), your multi-million dollar pharmacy business is begging for someone to strongly take the reigns and strategically prepare the business for growth, abundance and success.
Easier said than done, I know firsthand, as I own my own pharmacy and have been consulting for other pharmacy owners for over 5 years now. I’ve continually built clinical programs and optimization resources that thousands of pharmacies have plugged in across the country. I’ve recently invested in a new, state of the art location for my own pharmacy. What secret do I know that most of the industry is missing while they’re busy worrying about the bullies?
Health, wellness, personal connections, local business, strong provider relationships, a “what else” mentality, along with strong pharmacy branding and marketing for a high-end patient experience that allows your business to compete with the big boys is what will propel you in 2020 and beyond. Things like custom surgical kits, food sensitivity testing, supplement subscriptions, and seminars to name a few will help establish you as your community expert and go-to for patients who want to look and feel their best, at any age, with any disease state.
At ATRIUM24, we are uniting to identify the hottest market trends, the strongest pharmacy branding messages and materials, the most lucrative niches, identifying where to cut the fat and where to focus our energy, how to leverage, incentivize, train, motivate and hold our teams accountable, as well as unraveling PBM nuances so that each team member within the workflow knows exactly how to operate compliantly.
We have a very exciting 2020 planned, at a lower price point than our competitors, and invite you to join us now and into the future.
Our next 2 Day Training: Growth Strategy Blueprint is coming up February 25-26, in sunny Florida, sandwiched in between two other Florida pharmacy industry conferences, and we’d love to see you there for actionable insights, tools and pearls to learn and take back home so you can implement immediately and feel excited again about pharmacy! Register here: https://atrium24.io/event/growth-strategy-blueprint/
From there, you’re invited to join ATRIUM24, and all the pharmacy-changing content we have to provide, on an ongoing basis for a fraction of what other firms offer these types of programs and services for.
Interested in hearing more and rekindling your passion for the industry?! Book a call now with our founder, pharmacist and pharmacy owner, Dr. Nicolette Mathey: https://atrium24.youcanbook.me