Today’s episode features David Schryver, Pharm.D., and Deborah Dempsey, MBA, Pharm.D., RPh
What makes employee ownership special? Why is partnering with an employee-owned PBM important? On this episode of the Stay in Check Podcast, ProAct’s President, David Schryver, is joined by Chief Operating Officer, Deborah Dempsey, to talk about what makes employee-owned companies so different from the rest.
Employee ownership culture isn’t just an internal way of life. Being an owner – having that mindset – extends to how we show up for plan sponsors, business partners, and our members. “We are not going to take shortcuts because we know that as an owner these decisions are going to matter,” says Deborah Dempsey.
“People don't understand the [PBM] industry; therefore, they distrust the industry,” says David Schryver. “That’s where we, as a very transparent organization, try to take some of the complexity out of it for our partners,” responds Deborah Dempsey. “Being able to give them access to all of their data, being able to give them the tools to better understand it, and then have that trust in us to be their PBM.”
PBM reform is a hot topic and ProAct is ready. “The government will say, ‘By 2028 rebates will be 100% pass through.’ For the last two years, 95 to 100% of the proposals we put out … are 100% pass through on rebates. We've already been doing it. So, in many cases, it won't change a whole lot of what we do as an organization,” says David Schryver.
Because we don’t answer to Wall Street and shareholders, we have the flexibility to do what is right, even if the decision isn’t always in our best interest. “Do we have a stock price as employee owners?” asks David Schryver. “Yes, it's absolutely something we think about, but it doesn't drive every decision. If and when it comes down to ‘should we do this, can we do this? How do we want to tackle this with a client?’ The number one priority is what's good for the employer that we're working with. What's good for their members?”
As an employee-owned PBM we are able to offer plan sponsors a level of flexibility that other larger PBMs wouldn’t even consider. “The program offerings that we provide for our plan sponsors, they can pick and choose from what makes sense based on their specific plan,” says Deborah Dempsey. “We’re able to customize the benefits that we offer and how we build plans … it’s a differentiator for us.”
As owners, it’s important to us to begin each partnership with open communication and a solid foundation. “Our partners and plan sponsors that have moved from one of the larger three [PBMs] think there is a greater sense of relationship with [their] Account Manager,” says Deborah Dempsey. “We start off in a place where we have a relationship, we have a cadence. There are good, open lines of communication.”
Employee ownership is synonymous with stability because as an employee-owned company we won’t be bought or sold. “We're not a new organization,” says David Schryver. “We've been around for 26 years. We've become this kind of staple out there as a trustworthy, dependable PBM that's in the market, that's been in the market, and will continue to be in the market. A huge part of that has been employee ownership. We're not doing it for today. We're making decisions today that'll last into the future.”
View the full podcast “The Power of an Employee-Owned PBM”
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