PBM Competitive Intelligence

TMA, a group that was doing a PBM study, called me with questions a few months ago.  They sent me some of the results of the work last week.  A few interesting observations from them looking at CVS Caremark, Medco, Express Scripts, Wellpoint NextRx, Prescription Solutions, Aetna Pharmacy, and CIgna:

• Aetna was cited as having the best online capabilities.
• Express Scripts was cited as having the best generic drug conversion.
• Medco was cited as having the best disease management.
• Medco was cited as having the best sales channels.
• CVS Caremark was cited as having the best practices for implementation.

“As competition among PBMs is forecasted to remain high, customer service will continue to become more and more important as members/patients have greater expectations.”