A Special Conversation with RxSafe CEO Bill Holmes 

Todd Eury (00:02):

And in page two, one, all right. We are planning for 2022, and this is important. We have so much happening the transforming role of our pharmacist, much more attached back into attached back into the care of the patient rather than being attached. The prescription. I see things changing. There's an organization that is so supportive of this transformation of the pharmacist role, as well as the impact that community pharmacy has on its communities and the way that communities and people are looking to their community pharmacies to give them guidance of whole health, not just their prescriptions, but they're, they're coming to these pharmacies that are exercising and growing as healthcare destinations offering a lot more support and services to their patients. RX safe has been an enormous support and catalyst of this effort with regards to what they help to plan as well as help their community pharmacies roll out marketing services and engaging physicians, engaging patients with the education of how important medication adherence is the one of the biggest problems we have in our healthcare system. I wanna welcome back, uh, bill homes, who hasn't been to the pharmacy podcast in, in some time time, because of how busy he is all the time. But bill you are so welcomed, not only welcome back, but thank you so much for the support and the content that you're developing on this network. It's just incredible.

Bill Holmes (01:38):

Todd, thank you for the opportunity. Uh, once again, to address your, uh, uh, increasing and amazing audience, um, the work you do is, is God's work to spread the news and spread the information that helps our industry, our community pharmacy industry, uh, grow and, and prosper. And, uh, I'm always amazed. And you use the word a little while ago. I'm always amazed how resilient, um, the capitalist system in this country is in most particularly the independent entrepreneurs that own our community pharmacies. I see them struggle. I see them get attacked. I see them, uh, uh, impaired by unfair rules and regulations. I see organizations literal, they undermine their efforts and yet they press on, uh, and when they do, they always get stronger and they always come out and emerge more, uh, more successfully and nothing, nothing is more important in our country's healthcare continuum than the presence of the community pharmacy.

Bill Holmes (02:44):

And as we've heard so many times 95% of the population in this country is, uh, within five, uh, or 10 minutes of a pharmacy. And I think that this pandemic has really, um, in a sense, been a silver lining in that, uh, pharmacists have gained, um, esteem, uh, they've gained respect and they've gained, uh, the knowledge and understanding of the role they're playing now, as we go forward in the future, as we know about 10,000, uh, enter the Medicare system every day, that's the baby boomer. I'm part of it. You know, the first thing we influence was daycare centers and then elementary school, and then high school colleges, automobiles cars. Now we're influencing coffins. That's the, that's the watermelon through the snake. There just aren't enough nursing homes, excuse me, there's not enough money to pay for people to transition from daily life into a very expensive care environment like that. So care at home, which is preferred is, is the, uh, the only path that makes sense in the future. And now with improving, um, skills and pharmacists practicing at the top of their license. Now being allowed to, uh, give immunizations and even technicians for influenza are now being allowed to give immunizations and do other testing services. I think we're seeing the tip of the iceberg of major transformation of this, uh, of this amazing resource.

Todd Eury (04:25):

So let's talk about how the goal post is moving a bit. And what I mean by that is, is the competition in the realm of pharmacy is greater than ever because of how things are changing people that care models are changing, as well as how the payment models are changing. And everyone, there's lots of people in our industry. Um, I don't have to tell you bill who are complainers, who don't take any action in really helping there to be any kind of change. I know that PBM reform is more successful in what are our, um, state associations have done what, uh, Doug Hoy and the NCPA has been working at for years and years and years, what the, a PHA has contributed. Lots of organizations, the state organizations are just amazing. Ohio, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, where all this major change is happen at the court level.

Todd Eury (05:23):

And that change bill is going to is gonna have a trickle effect. It's gonna have a domino effect on many facets of the business of pharmacy. And one of the things that are gonna change, whether you want it to change or not, is the fact that adherence is gonna be recognized much more so by the payment mechanisms, by the private payers, by the PBMs, by Medicaid, Medicare part B and even D. And if you are not in the adherence packaging game, if you are not, if this doesn't become the common denominator that you're gonna build on top of, it's not just to say, I'll get there. No, you have to get there because of the other entities that smell the opportunity because of these changes coming, including mark Cuban, who just released an online pharmacy, mark Cuban costs plus drugs. And there's good to that. And there's possibly negative to that. But as long as he consults with consultant pharmacies in the communities that he's in, it'll be much better because the Pharmac pharmacist will still be, cuz he can't turn it into a commodity because then he'll become one of the bad guys. If he doesn't commoditize it, he's gonna do good. But bill, what do you think about not having a choice anymore?

Bill Holmes (06:39):

Well, let's start with the positive win, win, win. When, when patients are adherent, the patient wins because they improve their health and they're less likely to have to be admitted to a, uh, a care environment or acute care setting. Number two, the fam only wins and the caregivers win who are surrounding that patient. Uh, I can tell you from personal experience when you have a loved one, uh, that enters the, uh, acute care setting with a, with a MEA, uh, it doesn't just affect the patient. It affects the entire family. It's devastating, absolutely devastating. So the family win when there's adherence, the physician wins when there's adherence because no one complains more about patients not taking their meds correctly than doctors after all. And grandma comes back and she still has that same chronic condition. And she's complaining about the, uh, the symptoms. The doctor's first question is now N and you been taking your meds and she always goes, you know, a blank stare and nodding.

Bill Holmes (07:44):

Yes. And he doesn't know. And so what do you do increase the dosage, change the medication. It just becomes an endless cycle of visits and disappointments. So the doctor wins when there's adherence. And lastly, the pharmacy wins when there's adherence, how does the pharmacy win healthier patients? Yep. Obviously a win for pharmacy. If you take your medications correctly, you're refilling 12 times a year that a seven and a half as data suggests. And if you have that success in that adherence program, you're gonna grow your business and be more financially healthy, which allows you then to provide <affirmative> services at the top of the license. There really isn't a choice anymore.

Todd Eury (08:25):

Yes, there's too many organizations that have figured this out. And they've been positioning for years to, to be prepared, to take advantage of what's gonna happen as things continue to change in the PBM space, but more and importantly, like you were saying, the, the delivery of medication adherence and making it simple, putting it in the box, being able to put bigger, more, you know, detailed directions on the box and or a QR code on the box that then takes you to an app that would be part of your website so that it keeps them engaged with medical information. There's a lot of things taking place that are community pharmacists, the ones that really want to thrive and not just survive, but thrive are going to adopt and then exercise evolve these levels of this level of care. And then taking advantage of the fact that the experience that your patient slash customers having, they're gonna wanna come back to you for more services because of the value that you present.

Todd Eury (09:31):

So start thinking about diabetes management, class classes, or pharmacogenomics, uh, counselings or something that you're engaging. A nurse practitioner that's embedded into your pharmacy as almost like a minute clinic start thinking like the big organizations are thinking, get involved with diversify RX, get involved with companies like PDs that are, are, are giving you these packages and these marketing abilities get involved with your wholesaler. More intimately to the marketing of services. I mean start a freaking podcast for God's sakes. You need to be you pharmacist out there, you owners out there need to be the voice of healthcare services for your community. You should doing a monthly podcast that talks about your envi, your community what's happening, personalize it, did the football team win the championship this year, make your little show that helps you grow and market and talk about what medic medication adherence is doing to change, change, um, healthcare internally for these patients to live better lives. So what I'm, what hoping to do is I'm hoping you, you to help me set the stage because my, my first real question of you bill is give us, what's taking place in 2022. Our listeners can take advantage of when it comes to what RX safe is planning. Do you have anything happening, um, that you wanna bring their attention to so they can engage with you? Or would you like to even talk about, um, some of your successful customers that have leveraged the technology to really change the game for their stores?

Bill Holmes (11:24):

Uh, Todd, you, uh, you you've, uh, you've, you've hit my hot button. As you know, <laugh> Eric safe is in his 14th year. We're here servicing the independent pharmacy community. That's that's our market. Those are our partners. And I don't use the word partner lightly. Uh, we are not interested in being an equipment sales company or an equipment import and distributor type company. We are only interested in partnerships and what I mean by that, uh, by providing automation with strip packaging, which is, and, and I think, uh, undisputed best technology in the world with variable pouch sizing, and, uh, vision verification systems built in throughout, um, very, very small, uh, error rates and pouching, uh, and the, and, uh, and about a third of the cost for a final product of our competitor to deliver to a patient, uh, in a very small footprint. Uh, we are the undisputed technology leader, and we're made right here in the us in, uh, in San Diego, California, number two, uh, we've taken that same vision verification and cartridge, uh, technology and employed in, in a card filling machine.

Bill Holmes (12:35):

So we have an automated card filling machine, uh, far less costly than Sied far smaller footprint and far, far greater accuracy, far lower cost of final product and labor and material. Number three, uh, very pleased with the fact that we've been, uh, quietly shipping now for a year. Uh, our version of the icon optical counter, we call it the rapid count and it is tied to the use of a rapid pack and a rapid card machines for pouch and card filling to make sure that again, the quality is at the highest possible level. And, uh, and that there are no errors through the process. Uh, it's a, uh, it's an interesting new product when it's used as an independent appliance. It can be a, uh, tabletop pill counter. It counts in two tenths of a second and does pill verification, no other system does that.

Bill Holmes (13:27):

And it also allows for, uh, images to be captured of the pills on the tray, the pills in the VI label, on the VI and the label on and stock bottle for remote PB two for workload balancing again, to reduce the cost and improve the efficiency and accuracy of our pharmacies in this country. So three exciting products to compliment our, uh, our safe 1800, which is a as, you know, a stock bottle storage retrieval system in use in 10 of the top 20 health systems in the country for security, high density, storage, and accuracy of, uh, of, of, of VI filling. Uh, so those are, those are the tools that we have, but the partnerships come from us working with each of our community pharmacists to determine, uh, what best technology, what is the best software, what is the best workflow for their particular, uh, growth in their business?

Bill Holmes (14:24):

And that's, again, just the beginning, we then add multiple layers of partnership and marketing and, and business management. And, and to start with, we have our pack, my meds, which is, uh, uh, now becoming a very familiar brand for the strip package in a box. Um, and that network now is in the, uh, several hundred pharmacies that offer these services from the rapid pack. Uh, with that network, we can provide connectivity and mail order for people who don't have a pharmacy with our service, our services local, and that's a very valuable tool, but it also does, uh, social media. Um, I'll call it farming to find opportunities within a community around, uh, pharmacists, a pharmacy that's purchased a rapid pack. So we can, um, advertise when people express interest in adherence and PAC and other type, you know, med minor type, uh, queries. And then we send about 15 leads a month to pharmacies who own our rapid pack.

Bill Holmes (15:28):

That's tier one, tier two is a cohort group of five to 10 pharmacists for a 12 week program, half an hour, a week phone call hosted by us that share experiences of our successful deployments of hundreds, of other rapid packs. So they can get an understanding of how to, uh, manage that, uh, growth inside their own business. And number three is the business transformation team, physical people who are experts that we send to each pharmacy location, that's purchased a rapid pack to set up appointments with institutions like, uh, jails, prisons, nursing homes, mental health facilities, daycare, adult daycare, summer camps, all kinds of opportunities. And often hundreds of new patients are, uh, on earth in that three day visit. In fact, it's been in some cases over a thousand new patients, uh, where these institutions are just looking for a good partner that's local that can provide this kind of adherence packaging to allow them to, um, you know, a little less headache home health agencies like this angels absolutely loved this because the number one problem they have is they're not there all day long with their, at home care, uh, patient.

Bill Holmes (16:41):

And they come and they find that, you know, three days later they haven't been taking their meds. So, uh, and all of that, uh, all of that service and partnership is at no charge by RX safe. It's all part of the deal. So we can give you hundreds, you know, certainly dozens of leads of similar pharmacies that you can share, uh, your, your questions with about how the system works and how it forms. But what we need to do is get the back end working. So the pharmacist doesn't have to focus on all that machination all day long, and they can be out in front where they're now allowed to operate and they should be operating. And, and over time we hope, uh, compensation will follow it. It, uh, is expected. The N CPA is working hard on making sure that reimbursements are the same when a pharmacist provides a service to someone that's home, as opposed that person with the same needs in a nursing home. So that will come and I'm very, very optimistic about the future and that model.

Todd Eury (17:42):

Excellent. Excellent. So I want to give a shout out to the RX safe team for really helping the pharmacy podcast over the years, as well as the conferences that you've been attending and, and the extra that you do at the conferences you in at the N CPA, we did that amazing panel of pharmacy owners. So we love to see more of that in 2022, and helping our pharmacist understand there's education out there, where you're not standing in for some presentation being done by a, a, a technology leader. You're, you're listening to literal pharmacy owners who understand what it was like before, during implementation, after, and then ongoing to have, uh, technology in place. And I like learning from people who literally do it bill rather than just hearing a presentation on it. <laugh>

Bill Holmes (18:39):

<laugh>. I agree.

Todd Eury (18:41):

So thank you so much. Um, great to have you kind of give us a launch episode for RX safe for 2022 and beyond the future pharmacy, but bill, thanks so much. We're looking forward to seeing you at several of the national conferences coming up.

Bill Holmes (18:57):

Thank you, Todd. Uh, as always, uh, we're here, uh, to help this community and to help the effort, but always with one thing in mind, and that is to help the patient. Thank you.

Todd Eury (19:09):

Thank you. You were listening to the pharmacy podcast nation. We were on with bill Holmes, CEO of RX safe. You can learn more@rxsafe.com and pharmacists. You are our heroes. You technicians out there are our heroes. Thank you for all the work that you do throughout the country. Thank you.