The Astonishing Healthcare Podcast

On Episode 44 of the Astonishing Healthcare podcast , Andrew Gordon, LSW, joins host Justin Venneri for a discussion about the extensive primary research he's conducting on transparency and incentives in the U.S. Healthcare system. Gordon, who recently interviewed Capital Rx co-founder and CEO AJ Loiacono , explained how unexpected costs associated with an MRI sparked his curiosity, leading him to...

This episode of the Astonishing Healthcare podcast covers the ins and outs of two programs in the government sector - i.e., Medicare and Medicaid - and how modern technology - JUDI® - allows for more agility and flexibility in delivering care to Part D plan members and meeting CMS requirements. Capital Rx's Nash Albadarin, PharmD, explains changes to the Medication Therapy Management (MTM) criteri...

In this episode of the Astonishing Healthcare podcast , Capital Rx's Vice President of Provider Relations, Kasi Ortiz, joins Justin Venneri in the studio to discuss the network component of pharmacy benefits. They discuss how modern technology - JUDI® - allows for flexibility and customization of the network to meet plan sponsors' varying needs based on their unique member populations. The network...

On this episode of the Astonishing Healthcare podcast , three experts weigh in on rising litigation against employers and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and what employers sponsoring ERISA-covered health and welfare plans can do to show they are making an effort to establish processes and assess how "reasonable" the fees they pay are. Chris Deacon, Founder of VerSan Consulting; Jonathan Levitt,...

On this episode of the Astonishing Healthcare podcast , four women pharmacists across Capital Rx's teams join host Justin Venneri to celebrate #WPD2024! Amy Stockton, PharmD (our guest for Episode 6); Symara Schmidt, PharmD, BCGP; Lauren Carroll, PharmD, BCACP; and Marissa Miller, PharmD, discuss the significance of Women Pharmacist Day and highlight the progress women have made in the pharmacy fi...

On this episode of the Astonishing Healthcare podcast , Capital Rx's Samantha Custer, Director of Member Experience, and Jake Mulkey, Product Manager, join host Justin Venneri to discuss a niche, important aspect of Medicare Part D plans: Transition Benefits. What goes on behind the scenes to enable a plan member to receive uninterrupted care? What role does modern software - i.e., JUDI® - play in...

In Episode 38 of the Astonishing Healthcare podcast , Formulary Operations Manager Libbi Green, PharmD, joins host Justin Venneri in the studio for a timely discussion about flu season. The conversation covers the background of flu season, this year's flu vaccines, the timing and importance of vaccinations, how the flu vaccine performed last season, predicting flu trends, and the availability of d...

On this episode of the Astonishing Healthcare podcast , Kevin Sundquist, VP of Product at Capital Rx, joins host Justin Venneri to discuss the journey of a pharmacy claim, from the prescription at the doctor's office to the pharmacy counter. Kevin explains how JUDI® allows claims to be processed efficiently and transparently and why benefit design, network selections, and utilization management pr...

In this episode of the Astonishing Healthcare podcast , Joe Murad, CEO of Vida Health, joins host Justin Venneri and Capital Rx Chief Clinical Officer Sara Izadi, PharmD, in the studio for a discussion about glucagon-like peptide-1 (of GLP-1) medications and how partnering to manage cardiometabolic health can help plan sponsors control costs and keep their populations healthy. Joe and Sara review...

In this episode of the Astonishing Healthcare podcast , Justin Venneri speaks with Bonnie Hui-Callahan, PharmD, CDCES, Senior Director of Clinical Programs at Capital Rx, about the significance of clinical programs within the pharmacy benefit management (PBM) space. Bonnie explains how clinical programs serve as an "added layer of service" similar to after-school programs. They enhance the core fu...

In this episode of the Astonishing Healthcare podcast , Will Tafoya, Senior Vice President of Operations and the leader of Capital Rx's contact center, shares his views on building and leading an award-winning customer care team, which is available 24/7/365 to serve millions of pharmacy plan members. Will's passion for customer care and his team shines through, as he explains why hiring PTCB pharm...

In this episode of the Astonishing Healthcare podcast , AJ Loiacono, co-founder & CEO of Capital Rx, joins Justin Venneri to discuss Never Move Again™ , the recently launched "unbundled" pharmacy benefit administration solution for large employers. It turns out larger employer groups, TPAs, and other groups with 50,000+ lives are very similar to health plans, which value the flexibility and tr...

In this episode of the Astonishing Healthcare podcast, we dive into the National Pharmaceutical Council's recent employer survey on rebates and rebate guarantees published in the AJMC, Prescription Rebate Guarantees: Employer Insights ((7/19/24). NPC CEO John O'Brien, PharmD, MPH, and Senior Research Director Julie Patterson, PharmD, PhD joined Capital Rx's Co-Founder and CEO AJ Loiacono in the st...

In this episode of the Astonishing Healthcare podcast, Justin Venneri sits down with Kristen Begley, PharmD , Chief Commercial Officer, and Michael Miele, FSA, MAAA , Senior Vice President of Insured Services, for a discussion about some of the finer points of pharmacy benefit management (PBM) procurement and pharmacy program cost evaluation, including how misaligned incentives can drive costs hig...

In this episode of the Astonishing Healthcare podcast , Jeffrey Hogan, President of Upside Health Advisors, returns to the show for a timely discussion with Justin Venneri about why the timing is perfect for health plan sponsors and fiduciaries to engage their partners to secure necessary disclosure requirements and access to their data: it's renewal season! The Consolidated Appropriations Act (CA...

In this episode of the Astonishing Healthcare podcast, Nick Van Hook (VP, Commercial Markets) joins host Justin Venneri to discuss the pharmacy benefits selling season and the importance of building relationships and trust in B2B sales, especially in healthcare. They start with Nick's career journey - from pursuing a professional golf career and not knowing what a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) is...

In this Part 2 episode of Astonishing Healthcare, Justin Venneri continues the discussion about what a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) does with Capital Rx team members Jillian Lonson, PMP®, Sr. Director, Benefits Administration & Operations, and Jean Beman, Manager, Benefits Operations & Administration. They dive deeper into the weeds and geek out on topics including benefit configuration,...

In this episode of the Astonishing Healthcare podcast, Jillian Lonson, PMP®, Sr. Director, Benefits Administration & Operations, and Jean Beman, Manager, Benefits Operations & Administration, join host Justin Venneri for part one of a two-part discussion about what pharmacy benefit management (PBM) entails. They describe the basics and then peel back the layers of what PBMs do to ensure th...

In this episode of Astonishing Healthcare, Alfonso Martinez, Director of Product Management at Capital Rx, joins Justin Venneri to discuss the transformative role APIs - application programming interfaces - play in the healthcare industry and the flexibility they offer plan sponsors and benefits administrators to be imaginative. He explains how APIs facilitate seamless integration, automate critic...

Executive Vice President and CEO of the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations (NASPA), Krystalyn Weaver, PharmD, JD, joins host Justin Venneri for a discussion about pharmacists and expanding their scope of practice. She shares her insights on the role pharmacists can play in the healthcare system and highlights several positive developments recently, including Iowa changing the scope o...

We dedicated this episode of Astonishing Healthcare to discussing the ongoing challenges within the pharmacy benefit management (PBM) industry, as unveiled by a recent front-page New York Times article (subscription required). Capital Rx Senior Vice Presidents Josh Golden and Ryan Duffy join host Justin Venneri to share their reactions to the article and opinions about where the spotlight should b...

On this episode of the Astonishing Healthcare podcast, Capital Rx's head of compliance, Heidi McKinnon, PharmD, CHC, joins Justin Venneri for a discussion about a few of the critical issues she's tracking today that are either currently impacting or could impact the pharmacy benefits industry. With over 20 years of experience, she expertly navigates topics like the role of AI in detecting fraud, r...

In this episode of the Astonishing Healthcare podcast, Ben Schuster, Senior Director of Rebate Administration at Capital Rx, joins Justin Venneri for a dive into the world of pharmaceutical rebates. From the basics of what rebates are and how they flow through the supply chain to the intricacies of rebate guarantees and contractual definitions, Ben shares his thoughts on the importance of understa...

In this episode of Astonishing Healthcare, we discuss glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonists, but it's not another "these drugs are going to blow up every plan" sort of discussion. Bridget Mulvenna, a former pharmacy program director and our guest on Episode AH002 , shares her experience and opinions about how plan sponsors can work through the decision-making process to cover GLP-1s for weight...

What do you get when schedules line up and AJ Loiacono and Antonio Ciaccia are the guests on a podcast? An episode you must listen to if your work or interests are in any way centered on drug prices. NADAC - national average drug acquisition cost - was the focus of our discussion on this episode of the Astonishing Healthcare podcast. Recent methodology changes and a new survey participant have com...