PBM Impact on Independent Pharmacy Owners | PBM Reform

Fair Jones (0:05)

You are listening to the global network of podcasters dedicated to the pharmacy profession. Welcome to the Pharmacy Podcast Network.

SPEAKER_2 (0:39)

Pharmacy Podcast Network is a podcast that is focused on health management, cutting through the noise to uncover the truth. Since 2019, we've been your go-to source for the latest on how PBMs impact patient care, drug pricing and the very future of pharmacy. Here, we champion the role of pharmacists, the most knowledgeable advocates for medication safety and expertise.

Join us as we expose and generate discussions about a reshaping health care and explore how we build a better payment system, which focuses on advancing pharmacy care.

Brett Grice (1:19)

Well, welcome everybody to the PBM Reform Podcast here on the Pharmacy Podcast Network. My name is Brett Grice. Today we're going to take the conversation about pharmacy benefit managers. We're going to take it out of the boardroom. We're going to take it out of Washington, DC.

We're going to take it off of the spreadsheets and all the documents, and we're going to bring it right to the pharmacy counter. So because when you're talking about PBM Reform, it's real easy to talk about all the major things that we always cover. Reimbursement rates, DIR fees, formularies, the clawbacks, you know, network, and who can participate and who can't, and the contracting. But behind every one of those issues, there's something much more important, and that's the patient.

And so today, we want to really look at how the decisions that are made by pharmacy benefit managers, by PBMs, their policies, can really not just affect the patient, but the community pharmacies, especially the independent pharmacies that are supporting those patients. So we want to look at it from that perspective today of a community pharmacy owner, and about what it's actually like to operate an independent pharmacy and deal with PBM influences. And again, most importantly, how PBMs affect the relationship between the pharmacist and their patients. So I want to welcome to the program Dr. Fair Jones. Hi, Dr. Jones, how are you?

Fair Jones (3:00)

I'm good, how are you? Thank you so much for having me.

Brett Grice (3:03)

No, this is a pleasure. I've been following your posts, and you're saying all the right things. And so I was like, we gotta have you on this show, and get to know you a little more, and get down to the trenches, and just see really what you're dealing with on a day-to-day basis. So let's start with your own story. Tell us about your own pharmacy, how long you've had the business, and what makes you different than maybe a chain or even a mail order pharmacy that's out there.

Fair Jones (3:34)

Yeah, so I have owned my pharmacy since 2019 It was an existing pharmacy here in my hometown in Mississippi, and my husband and I were lucky enough to get the opportunity to purchase that pharmacy. So we did, and we have been here ever since.

Savemore, like I said, it's been here for 50 plus years, so people just know that it's one of those places that's just part of Grenada. But I would say what's different for us is that we're really like a family, not only my staff, but also our customers. We, of course, know what medications they're taking, but we also know when their kids are playing baseball, or when someone had a surgery, or what church they go to. And we just have these small town connections that really resonate with a lot of people. They're not just a number coming in, but another metric to check off the list.

They're our family. And so a lot of these people, I was born and raised here in Grenada. And so it's people I've known my whole life, and I've known their kids or their grandkids. And it's really cool for me to get to help take care of those people that I feel like raised me when I was here. So I try to take that with how I do my job. And I just think you can't be a small independent pharmacy. It's the best.

Brett Grice (5:08)

It really is. So I'm sure everyone in your community already knows you and knows how to find your pharmacy. But just in case, where are you located?

Fair Jones (5:18)

So we're in Granada, Mississippi, and we are on Commerce Street right across from Granada High School, right down the way from Sonic. So just kind of the main drag right in Granada. You can't miss us.

Brett Grice (5:31)

Okay, excellent. All right. And so when you think back at your career going to pharmacy school, you didn't jump right directly into an independent pharmacy. So where did your career path take you to this point today?