Trade & Channel Strategies 2024: Evolving with the Times
A panel uncovers how distribution channels are aligning commercialization efforts.
Day 1 of Trade & Channel Strategies in Philadelphia welcomed several captivating sessions, including a panel centered around “Pharmacy Evolved—Aligning Commercialization to the Changing Pharmacy Channel.” Tom Doyle, SVP of sales and chief customer officer for biopharma services at Cencora, the panel’s moderator, was joined by Tim Cernohous, the wholesaler’s SVP and president of community retail and long-term care pharmacy, and Karen Martell, Alto Pharmacy’s VP of enterprise partnerships.
The main objectives were to assess how legacy distribution channels are evolving to integrate technological advancements, along with what original approaches new channels are introducing; examine strategies for integrating tech to improve the patient journey; and understand how manufacturers are redefining their approach when it comes to data and technology in order to boost efficiency and patient outcomes.
“I think it takes a different mindset. We've talked for a long time about, well, let's integrate,” Doyle explained. “ … The reality is, the markets are moving too quickly. The needs of your brands are so diverse and different than what they were a few years ago, you can't fit into one single box. It's really changed, I think, from an integration approach to really saying, how do you look at the individual needs and then orchestrate across all of the stakeholders to make sure that we're creating ecosystems and environments that can give better patient access and can help drive better outcomes?
Hybrid models are also key, Doyle added, with the influence of digital innovation. After all, it’s about partnering with the right partners to be able to meet the needs of an individual product appropriately.
How the segment has changed
The industry is facing various obstacles surrounding the delivery of new innovations to patients, whether that be due to evolving requirements, with market access pathways and payer evidence demands changing; complex interventions, featuring a paradigm shift in innovation; a hostile environment with challenging economic conditions and societal opinions of healthcare costs; and a finite talent pool.
Traditional models are under pressure—retail pharmacies for example, are closing due to high labors costs (just for context, Walgreens stock has decreased by 78% over the last five years), while PBMs are under regulatory pressures. And when it comes to getting prescriptions to the patient, these workflows are often defined by a low margin and repeated manual activities.
There’s been a push for looking at software as a service (SaaS), including what can be done to try and help improve the aforementioned patient experience. There have also been various other trends that have been surfacing.
“What I'm hearing a lot is that the tools that are available to pharmacies are not sufficient to support their needs,” explained Martell, whose pharmacy is full-service and digitally-powered. “We've seen it firsthand from when we started having a huge amount of people to do work that now is done by just a fraction of that, so we've been able to lower our costs without compromising our patient experience. … I think there's tremendous opportunity to bring in new, better tools for independent pharmacies, and we would love to make you know our technologies available.”
Diversification of downstream customers
According to Doyle, there's still room for general improvement. Even given diversification, 90% of prescriptions are still being picked up at retail, and at the same time, the average pharmacy abandonment rate is 50% (via Bill Roth’s opening presentation). Of course, abandonment can occur for a multitude of reasons—especially when it comes to a broad-based space—but it’s important to keep in mind, nonetheless.
Shifting that pharmacy experience for customers involves examining the dilemma from a macro perspective and asking the right questions.
“You can look at this and you can say, well, patients hate their pharmacy experience. … To think that it's a one-size-fits-all terrible experience, it's not,” Cernohous said. “There are pharmacies out there that are actively trying to change. What does that experience look like, whether that's through technology, or the in-store experience? How do I get medications to their home? … For this group, how do you find those providers of choice that want to engage with their patients differently, that want to have a different patient experience, and ultimately, are growing their practice base as well?”
Reference
Cernohous T, Doyle T, Martell K. Pharmacy Evolved—Aligning Commercialization to the Changing Pharmacy Channel. December 10, 2024. Trade & Channel Strategies, Philadelphia. https://informaconnect.com/trade-channel/
