For AmerisourceBergen’s Bob Mauch, improving outcomes, supporting community pharmacy is in his blood

LAS VEGAS — At the ThoughtSpot 2015 general session, AmerisourceBergen Drug Corporation President Bob Mauch told attendees that “to say pharmacy is all in the family for me is an understatement.”

A pharmacist himself, Mauch grew up around community pharmacies as part of his father’s work as an independent pharmacist in Staten Island, N.Y., and Florida. His experience watching his father build businesses that served a vital role in the community is what drove Mauch’s — and his sister’s — interest in becoming a pharmacist.

“I got to watch him enjoy the impact that he made on people’s lives everyday, and as you can imagine that was a pretty big influence on me and my sister,” Mauch said. “It’s important for you to know that independent community pharmacy is in my blood, literally. I’ve lived your challenges, I feel the sense of urgency that you feel every single day. My dad was an entrepreneur … and he encouraged me to start and build a business of my own.”

Mauch’s business, Xcenda, which was acquired by AmerisourceBergen in 2007, focused on the research and analytics side of pharmacy and enabled Mauch to pursue his passion for improving outcomes both for patients and businesses.

“I use these experiences — both my community pharmacy upbringing and my health outcomes training — every day when I think about how we can be a better partner to you,” Mauch told attendees at his first ThoughtSpot as president of AmerisourceBergen Drug Corporation . “Your challenges in community pharmacy in terms of reimbursement and outcomes and pay for performance are passions of mine.”

Now at the reigns of AmerisourceBergen Drug Corporation, Mauch is looking to use his background to achieve three goals: providing the best customer experience to Good Neighbor Pharmacy customers, offering the right value to customers and increasing the company’s strategic relevance to customers’ businesses.

“Every day you are faced with pressures around reimbursement, inventory and cash flow. Instead of worrying about that, we want to help you focus your time and attention on improving patient outcomes,” Mauch told Good Neighbor Pharmacy members. “We want to be your strategic partner and put our muscle to work for you. … This means innovating, as well as being your advocate.”

Though he acknowledges that the healthcare landscape is entirely different than the one his father navigated, and even the one he navigated as a pharmacy student, Mauch is confident that his background, coupled with AmerisourceBergen Drug Corporation’s knowledge, reach and partnership, will be a boon to Good Neighbor Pharmacy members.

“The times and the challenges may have changed, but the call for solutions that improve a pharmacist’s ability to serve patients is more urgent than ever,” he said.