LucyRx CEO David Blair Sees Untapped Potential in Pharmacists Amid Primary Care Shortage | PBMI Innovator

David Blair, founder, chairman, and CEO of LucyRx, is among the recipients of Managed Healthcare Executive’s inaugural PBMI Innovator Award. At LucyRx, Blair shared in a video interview with MHE that they are rethinking the role of pharmacists in healthcare—and challenging outdated pharmacy benefit models in the process.

He expressed his belief that pharmacists are an underused resource in the U.S. healthcare system, especially at a time when access to primary care is becoming more limited.

“We have this shortage of primary care (doctors), and we have this huge asset of pharmacists,” he said. “It’s like this mismatch that we need to connect.”

Blair pointed out that the U.S. has about 400,000 licensed pharmacists, with nearly half working in retail settings. These professionals are often the most accessible healthcare providers in communities across the country—yet they’re typically limited to tasks such as filling prescriptions and checking insurance eligibility.

“What do we ask them to do? Count pills, check eligibility, call an 800 number. I mean, you got to be kidding me,” Blair said. “How can we start to empower the pharmacists to get incremental revenues so that they can stay in business and deliver the care that that we need as a country?”

LucyRx is particularly focused on supporting independent pharmacies, which have been closing at a rapid rate due to low reimbursement rates and rising operational costs.

Blair said he sees an opportunity to help these small businesses survive by enabling them to offer more clinical services and generate new revenue streams.

He also noted the American Medical Association’s recent warning that the U.S. could be short over 100,000 primary care physicians in the next 10 to 15 years. Blair added now is the time to rethink how pharmacists can help meet growing care demands.

By empowering pharmacists and reimagining their role, LucyRx is hoping to bridge critical care gaps and make community-based care more sustainable.