The design and management of the drug benefit requires participation of many stakeholders. Nearly three hundred plan sponsor, pharmacy benefit manager and pharmacist stakeholders came together to discuss critical drug benefit issues during PBMI's eighth annual Drug Utilization Management Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz., in April.

Plan sponsors and pharmacy benefits managers alike benefited from hearing peers and industry outsiders share strategies for working together more effectively and managing drug benefit programs. Figure 1 illustrates the complex relationships among stakeholders integral to the administration of a drug benefit programs. As Wall Street analysts and investors continue to be bullish on PBM stocks, plan sponsors are working to ensure they are extracting value for their active employees and retirees.

Conference sessions addressed a broad range of industry issues with speakers employed inside and outside the drug benefits arena. Faculty shared their insights and real-world experiences about curbing the rates of increase in drug benefit costs and utilization, fielding questions about the intricacies of their areas of expertise.

In addition to savvy cost sharing, organizations are effectively managing costs and utilization through increased used of generics and multi-tiered formularies, greater attention to bioinjectables, and investments in employee and retiree communication about the drug benefit.

Presentation topics at the three-day conference are listed below. Summaries of all conference presentations are on line at www.pbmi.com.

Doing Business with PBMs

• Building relationships with PBMs
• Group purchasing pools
• Insourcing drug benefit administration
• PBM operations
• PBM auditing
• Online RFP process
• Traditional RFP process

Benefit Management Opportunities

• Managing bioinjectables
• Increasing mail-order utilization
• Generic drug availability
• Using prescription data

Clinical Issues

• Safety issues in the third-party environment
• Therapeutic class management
• Optimizing therapy for seniors

Marketplace Perspectives

• Insiders' perspective of PBM business model
• Plan design issues and future trends in drug costs
• Wall Street perspective of PBMs
• Ethical issues surrounding PBM-plan sponsor relationships

These presentations include case studies from the following organizations: AmeriHealth Mercy Health Plan, ALCOA, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, State of West Virginia, Tufts Health Plan, and Zurich NA.

Mark your calendars for next year's meeting. PBMI's 2004 drug utilization management conference will be held from April 28 to 30, 2004, at the Radisson Resort in Scottsdale. Presentation proposals will be accepted online at www.pbmi.com through August 1, 2003.

Top