CVS Caremark Leader Urges Industry to Focus on the Patient Experience | PBMI Innovator

For Joshua Fredell, Pharm.D., senior vice president at CVS Caremark, the future of pharmacy benefit management (PBM) should center on making the pharmacy experience as simple and seamless as possible for patients. That vision helped earn him a spot among the inaugural recipients of Managed Healthcare Executive’s PBMI Innovator Award, which recognizes leaders driving meaningful change in the pharmacy benefit industry.

Fredell points to data showing that more than 90% of pharmacy transactions happen without a hitch: patients walk in, get their prescriptions, and pay an affordable price—often less than $8 out of pocket for a one-month supply for those Caremark supports. But he’s just as focused on the smaller share of cases where things don’t go as planned, such as unexpected costs or the need for prior authorization.

“What I want to see is more of what we’re trying to do,” Fredell said. “How do we just continue to make this experience easier and simpler for the member, the patient? I think that gets missed. Most of the time it works well, but in those smaller percent of cases where something doesn’t go right, how do we make that easier and more seamless for both the member that’s experiencing it, the pharmacy that they’re using, and also keeping all of those three domains in mind?”

He said solving those challenges requires thinking about every stakeholder in the process: the patient, the pharmacy and the PBM.

Fredell also underscored the industry’s responsibility to help contain and manage drug costs nationwide. CVS Caremark, he noted, has made significant investments in cost control strategies and intends to continue refining them.

In his view, PBMs must strike a balance between keeping medications affordable and removing friction in the pharmacy experience. By focusing on both priorities, Fredell believes the industry can better serve patients and strengthen trust in the role PBMs play in the healthcare system.