Transparency makes cost plus drug pharmacy its own business model

When PharmD’s Kyle McCormick started Blueberry Pharmacy, his goal was to provide the best patient experience. “I’ve always been interested in independent pharmacies,” he said in an interview. Pharmacy Times®“I’ve always liked the community vibe and getting to know everyone…you can really make an impact.” [patients’] I live

Blueberry Pharmacy is a fee-based pharmacy, and patients and pharmacists communicate primarily over the phone, so while it may not appear to be patient-focused, McCormick says that pharmacists are available to answer patient questions. There is always time to answer For example, during his interviews, he answered numerous patient calls.

He went on to explain the difference between the cost-plus pharmacy model and the traditional pharmacy business model. “How traditional pharmacies price drugs [is] different [in that] They use the so-called average wholesale price to come up with a sort of list price to charge insurance, and the insurance will actually get back what you get paid,” McCormick said.

Cost-plus pharmacies are not covered by insurance, so even if the patient has insurance, the pharmacy will not accept it. Without a company or insurance policy, pharmacies can set prices for medicines so they may be cheaper than they would be if they had insurance, or at least a fair market price.

Many of the problems in the traditional pharmacy model relate to insurance claims. For example, prescription filling is often delayed due to insurance companies denying drugs for a variety of reasons, prescriptions being put on hold, and claims being adjudicated.

According to McCormick, the biggest advantage of the cost-plus model is transparency. “It builds trust quickly, so I am happy to show anyone the bill for what I pay. This is the reality of some drugs and [the] The conventional model is a $22 drug, [they’re] I will charge $6000 for it,” he said.

Giving patients transparency about drug costs creates trust between patients and pharmacists. This is different from the traditional relationship between the two. “We saw patients coming to us, [and] Various insurance companies charge ridiculous amounts of money for drugs, but they’re kind of shocked when you can quickly show how much you can save without using insurance.

For example, a patient visited Blueberry Pharmacy to lower the price of a prescription. Patients remain customers because of this pharmacy’s transparency. McCormick says patients will seek advice about other conditions, such as what to take for a sore throat, so building trust is essential.

Transparency also helps build relationships with doctors. “We’ve found that being transparent about pricing and being a helpful source of information about costs opens a lot of doors for other providers who don’t know how to help their patients at a cost. [when] They’ll prescribe something,” McCormick said. “Be that resource [physicians] It really opened the door for good conversations and patient referrals. ”

Sometimes it’s cheaper to choose the cost-plus pharmacy model, but especially in emergencies, patients need insurance even if they don’t use it for their medicine. whenever [insurers] Seeing how easy a world without insurance would be, they were like, ‘Well, why do we need insurance? [have] McCormick added that he always explains to patients why they need insurance.