Amy Wadstrom, RPh, on point solutions | PBMI 2026

At the 2026 Pharmacy Benefit Management Institute (PBMI) Annual National Conference in Orlando, Florida, Amy Wadstrom, RPh, president of Vivid Clear Rx, said that a growing market of point solutions is good for competition but also warned that pharmacy benefit managers need to be selective about which vendors they bring into a client relationship.

In an interview with Managed Healthcare Executive, Wadstrom said one of the biggest risks with point solutions is member confusion. If a health plan introduces several point solutions at once, a member could get multiple unfamiliar phone calls without understanding who is calling, why, or what they are supposed to do to realize the promised savings. She said that risk starts even earlier, since many members do not know who their PBM is in the first place. Because of that, Vivid Clear Rx typically limits point solutions in a client’s first year, focusing instead on demonstrating its own savings and building trust, before introducing additional vendors in year two once the client knows the PBM and trusts its recommendations.

Wadstrom said PBMs should become overly reliant on vendors and their point solutions.

“If you're an amazing PBM and you’re doing the right things, half of those point solutions aren’t even needed because they’re actually the PBM’s job," she said.

Wadstrom spoke to MHE after participating in a panel discussion yesterday that opened the PBMI meeting. She was joined on the “Redefining the Future of Pharmacy Care” panel by Kathryn Carey, MBA, president of Optum Rx’s PBM; Dana McCormick, RPh, vice president of practice innovation at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy; Krista Siano, vice president of business transformation at PSG; and Patty Starr, president and CEO of the Health Action Council.