Speakers Designed For Shipping Information Written Materials Print an order form: If you do not wish to place your order online, click here to download a printable order form (PDF file), then submit your order via fax or mail, as directed on the form.

Order Now (Secure Site) Printed Materials* and CD ($329) Pub code: C8P04T View Cart

Drug mix measures how well a pharmacy program drives utilization to generic or lower-cost brand drugs. Evaluating a PBM’s ability to positively impact drug mix should become a factor in the selection of a pharmacy benefit management partner, as many of the traditional pricing factors have become less differentiated in recent years. Vendors and plans that can demonstrate an ability to improve drug mix should have an advantage over competitors that base their offerings only on factors such as drug pricing, dispensing fees and administrative fees.

The key question becomes how to achieve an optimal drug mix that provides sufficient choice to members while also driving utilization to lower-cost drugs. Three leading pharmacy experts will provide strategic insights on how health plans and PBMs can develop and utilize the optimal drug mix. Among the key topics they will cover are:

• How an optimal drug mix can result in significant savings
• How drug mix has become a  factor in selecting a pharmacy benefit manager
• What PBMs and plans must do — and NOT do — to develop the best drug mix
• What types of member incentives are most effective in driving optimal drug mix
• How plan sponsors can evaluate drug mix
• How contractual mechanisms can ensure accountability for achieving drug-mix goals
• How other factors, including drug pricing and discounts, must be evaluated by plans and PBMs at the same time as drug mix

Speakers

JAKE CEDERGREEN joined Express Scripts, Inc. in 2003. He leads the product strategy and analytics functions for the PBM. Mr. Cedergreen works collaboratively with Express Scripts sales, finance and operations teams to drive value to plan sponsors and patients. His experience at Express Scripts includes pricing, analytics, market intelligence, benefit design and product positioning. Prior to joining Express Scripts, Mr. Cedergreen was business/finance manager for Washington University Medical Center and Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. At Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Mr. Cedergreen was responsible for hospital and physician level financial analyses, business development and procurement for the department of surgery. He graduated with masters’ degrees in both business administration and health administration from University of Missouri, Columbia. He received his bachelor’s science from the University of Illinois, Champaign. 

HELEN SHERMAN, R.Ph., Pharm.D., is senior director of pharmacy services and chief pharmacy officer at The Regence Group's RegenceRx, a not-for-profit PBM whose evidence-based research program makes it a national leader in assessing the value of medications, reducing pharmacy trends and increasing generic utilization. Regence serves about 2.6 million members of Blue Cross/Blue Shield plans in Oregon, Washington state, Utah and Idaho. Dr. Sherman, who joined RegenceRx in 1996, is responsible for the company's scientific review process, and also develops educational information/tools for consumers and doctors and facilitates benefit design. She has more than 20 years of experience in managed care, retail, hospital, home care and community research settings. Dr. Sherman earned her bachelor's degree in pharmacy from Oregon State University and her Pharm.D. from Purdue University, and she is a member of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy.

TIM WATSON, Pharm.D., is principal of Pharmaceutical Strategies Group. Dr. Watson has extensive experience in the pharmacy benefits arena, including management experience with several leading PBMs, consulting experience with Deloitte & Touche, and now as a principal and co-owner of a large pharmacy benefits consulting firm. He is a frequent contributor to leading trade journals, and is author of AIS's best-selling book PBM Formulary Strategies and Their Impact on Payers, published in 2003. He has provided pharmacy consulting services to some of the largest employers and plan sponsors in the country. Dr. Watson received his Pharm.D. from the University of Arizona.

Moderator: Neal Learner, managing editor of AIS’s Drug Benefit News

Designed Especially For

Executives, product developers, business development and marketing directors, financial managers, pharmacy directors, medical officers, clinical services directors, consultants and contracting executives at:

• Health plans
• PBMs
• Pharmaceutical companies
• Pharmacy retailers
• Large employers
• Public employee retirement plans

Written Materials