Presented April 9, 2010

AMCP’s 22^nd Annual Meeting & Showcase

San Diego, Calif.

First, I would like to commend Shawn Burke for all of her tremendous work and dedication to AMCP during her presidency. I consider it an honor and a privilege to serve as President for the Academy. And I would like to take a moment to show my appreciation to my wife, Michele, who is with us today and I won’t ask her to stand up as she will probably kill me. Michele has stood by me and supported me for the past 20 years of my managed care career and managed our household while putting up with my busy work and travel schedule. I would also like to thank my daughter Taylor who has also put up with a Dad who is not home very much.

As a managed care pharmacist with over 20 years of experience, I have had the opportunity to work with managed care professionals from all walks of life.

And I can tell you that despite all of the rhetoric and vilification of our industry, there is not one pharmacist, physician, nurse, account executive or other managed care colleague that I have met who joined the practice of pharmacy to do anything other than improve the health of Americans and maintain the affordability of their pharmacy benefit.

The problem is we don’t tell the world about the good things we do. So get vocal! Start telling people about what you do every day to improve members’ health and make their benefits affordable.

Here is a statement about our profession that has been made over the past year:
“Of course they’ve been immoral all along in how they have treated the people that they insure,” said a high-profile congressional leader. “They are the villains….”

REALLY! I would venture to say that none of you feel like that is representative of your daily work.

I am here today to remind you that we do change patient lives - for the better - every day. It’s important to remember that during a time when people in our industry are described as “the villains” and “profiteers.” I’m sure you have heard statements over the past few months that quote “we are more interested in ourselves than our members.”

We know that the full story is not being told and that perception is not reality. As the leader of this organization, I want you to know that AMCP is committed to telling the whole story - the real story. So let’s get vocal! Tell your family, friends, congressional representatives, state legislators, doctors, and patients about all of the good things you do to improve the health and well being of Americans!

That’s why I’ve asked a former managed care pharmacist who has gone back into retail pharmacy to give us an idea of how programs that managed care pharmacists help create allow him make an impact on patients and members. Kroger pharmacist Jim Kirby will share a story about a patient enrolled in a pharmacy program jointly created by Kroger, the City of Cincinnati, Novartis and an Ohio health plan.

-          Kroger video (2:49)

The great things we do for patients and members don’t stop here. Let me share a few more with you.

In my region of the country  - Western New York state -  where cardiovascular disease and MI rates are extremely high,  an innovative  collaborative intervention program called ACSETS – focused on coordinated care for ACS patients from emergency room through discharge.  Led by a local cardiologist and ER physician, this program used hospital wide order sets within the Kaleida Heath System hospitals to help ensure appropriate guideline based medication and care management strategies were applied.  In partnership with the three major MCO s in the region, this program demonstrated a reduction in one-year mortality rates in post-MI patients.  A great example of regional partnerships of multiple participants in health care delivery.

Another example is the work that Regence has been doing on its health coaching program for members with sleep issues. In one study, Regence has shown that coaching helped 79 percent of its members achieve sleep-related goals, including reducing the use of sleep medication and adopting healthier lifestyles.

For those representing pharmaceutical companies in the audience today, you’ve done good work as well. You developed a study called LIFE that not only looked at how Cozaar reduced blood pressure, but how it reduced cardiovascular mortality, myocardial infarction and stroke—which is much more meaningful to patients and their physicians.

At my own company, WellPoint clinical pharmacists will be instrumental in reducing member fractures and saving employers money in medical and pharmacy costs by a recent restructuring of our formulary that placed the bisphosphonate associated with lower compliance, higher fracture rates and higher total cost of care on a higher tier, first requiring a trial of two other products.

As you all are striving to expand and build programs like these to improve the quality of life for our members and reduce their costs, AMCP will be here to support you in these efforts. As president my commitment to you is to make sure that your stories are being heard. And even if you do not receive that daily in-person affirmation, YOU do change patient lives – for the better – every day.

Thank you.