Walgreens, Centene and RxAdvance partner on pharmacy management model
Walgreens, insurer Centene and PBM RxAdvance have formed a strategic partnership focused on a new pharmacy management model aimed at increasing transparency, improving patient experience and reducing costs through improved outcomes.
The partnership builds on an existing Centene and Walgreens relationship, combining Walgreens’ retail pharmacy expertise with Centene’s abilities to provide health care services to underserved patients. It also will leverage RxAdvance’s pharmacy benefit management model powered by its Collaborative PBM Cloud platform.
“Collaboration between retail pharmacies and payers like Centene can further transform the way we provide care,” said Stefano Pessina, executive vice chairman and CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance. “Using RxAdvance’s Collaborative PBM Cloud, our partnership can empower our pharmacists to make critical decisions at the point of sale to help improve adherence and also to reduce avoidable medical costs.”
Walgreens said the partnership addresses the need for new approaches to pharmacy benefit management, particularly with the Medicaid population. The companies will use RxAdvance’s Collaborative PBM Cloud transactional platform and clinical intelligence to improve overall patient care and offer a model to other large payers.
“Centene is committed to supporting a transparent pharmacy benefit management model that is sustainable with higher quality care for members at a lower cost to our customers,” said Michael F. Neidorff, chairman, president and CEO of Centene. “This new approach to pharmacy management will improve the transparency and quality of care, while reducing unnecessary medical costs for millions of people.”
The companies said they have identified initial markets to deploy this partnership model, and are working with community leaders on new pharmacy models. Walgreens said that it has made a small investment in RxAdvance, and Centene has increased its stake in the PBM following an initial investment made in March 2018.
“I am excited that today we have partners across the care continuum – Centene and Walgreens – who are committed to the power of RxAdvance’s collaborative PBM model, and to completely reimagine what is possible in this industry,” said Ravi Ika, founder and CEO, RxAdvance. “By pushing the limits of innovative technology and existing transaction standards, there is a clear path forward to reduce administrative costs, avoidable medical costs, and to improve overall quality of care.”