by Blake Fussell
Brokers are searching for pharmacy benefit offerings that provide plan sponsors with complete flexibility, customization, and control over their pharmacy spend, many of which found a landing space at CerpassRx. Unlike the big three PBMs, clients are not put into a bucket based on the number of lives they have and service offerings are not restricted because of a smaller member count. At CerpassRx, members are not a number; members are their priority.
CerpassRx strives to make dramatic financial changes in the pharmacy benefit market, providing an innovative and focused system for mid-size employer groups. With an effort towards doing things differently, CerpassRx was the first company to partner with PillPack by Amazon Pharmacy. Providing plan sponsors with access to a unique service offering, plans have complete flexibility to choose whether to steer members to PillPack by Amazon Pharmacy.
“We work hard to establish a program that not only adds value for our clients, but also provides our members with an experience that is exceptional.” said Eric Yonkus. “Setting up PillPack as an in-network pharmacy wasn’t enough in our eyes; we wanted to empower both parties to break down the walls built by other PBMs. We started with the member experience, recognizing that PillPack’s heavy emphasis on member satisfaction and experience aligned with ours.” In turn, positive disruption.
What makes CerpassRx different?
As a distinguished company, CerpassRx has consistently found new ways to provide forward-thinking, tailored strategies to pharmacy benefit plans. Their keen ability to build solutions that cater to the individual needs of their clients is unparalleled.
Moreover, when it comes to streamlining the PBM process, CerpassRx continues to push the envelope with their in-house alternative funding program. Providing plan sponsors with easy access to an alternative funding program has furthered the emphasis on employer-choice and flexibility that has not been available with pharmacy giants.
Another key difference in how CerpassRx operates is its employee-first priority. CerpassRx invests in their employees, building a strong work culture that cultivates innovation, success, transformation, and growth. Their belief is that no company can succeed without creating an environment where employees feel empowered to turn knowledge into action, motivated to achieve better results both personally and professionally, and inspired to make a difference for our clients and members.
“Our employees are the backbone of this organization. How we treat and value our employees impacts everything,” said Eric. “You have employees that want to be here, members that are taken care of, and solutions that provide an extreme amount of flexibility and customization.”
Positive Disruption Examples from CerpassRx
Through maintaining a manageable client base, prioritizing the employee, and providing much-needed flexibility, CerpassRx has not only created a simpler PBM system, but has saved its clients nearly 35% on overall spend, according to Eric.
A recent example of positive disruption involved a hospital system that was looking for a change. There was initial skepticism towards CerpassRx’s proposal as the savings analysis seemed too good to be true. After working towards tailored solutions with the hospital, CerpassRx reduced their spend by 25 percent. “We told the client, ‘this is your benefit so let’s build it how you like it’,” Eric said. “And the success the hospital system (administrator) said they had was absolutely fantastic.”
Furthermore, one of the largest teachers’ unions in the country also benefited from using CerpassRx. The union already had benefits that they enjoyed and did not want to change but wanted to cut down on costs. With CerpassRx’s integrated, customizable solution, their goal was to cut spending by 10-15 percent. Through hard work and an accomplished account management team, CerpassRx minimized specialty drug spend and wastage while providing personalized service to each member. With the help of alternative funding, CerpassRx saved the teachers’ union 35 percent on total spend.
The current PBM environment is not built on operational or financial transparency, leaving plan sponsors and members to get lost in the shuffle. More often than not, the focus is on how to fit plan sponsors into the model, instead of building the model around the plan sponsors and providing transparency on how the system works. This model brings engagement to a different level and provides freedom to the plan to make decisions based on what is best for their members.
“We are a mid-market PBM today that is focused on using all the tools we have to drive down cost. As easy as that sounds, it’s not what the other players are pushing. We see many times when a big three PBM pushes a product that benefits their bottom line, doesn’t impact cost, and disrupts the member. To me, that is not pharmacy benefit management, that is pharmacy margin management, and we refuse to play that game,” Eric said.
The future of CerpassRx does not follow the pathway of traditional PBMs. The trail CerpassRx creates eliminates the smoke and mirrors in the PBM industry, providing plan sponsors with access to a parallel supply chain. Thus, creating a groundbreaking PBM model that delivers a fully aligned transparent PBM to their clients.
We are proud to feature CerpassRx on The Granite List.
