RELEASE
Statement from Daniel J. Loepp, President & CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, on the Company’s Investment in Evio Pharmacy Solutions
Andrew Hetzel
| 2 min read
I’m excited that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is investing in Evio Pharmacy Solutions. This new company will accelerate Blue Cross’ efforts to lower the skyrocketing cost of prescription and specialty drugs affecting our customer groups and members. Several years ago, for the first time ever, the combined cost of prescription and specialty drugs for our members outpaced the cost for inpatient hospitalization. With the pressure that pharmacy costs are putting on health care affordability, now is the moment to bring new ideas and bold innovations to the forefront of our work to lower those costs. At Blue Cross, we are leading the advance of value-based care models, including our rapidly expanding Blueprint for Affordability initiative, which is one of the nation’s largest risk-sharing reimbursement programs with physician groups and health systems. Evio’s focus will be to utilize real-world evidence to support a value-based model for pharmacy management. Evio also will design best practice strategies for therapeutic management, build and acquire capabilities and partner with innovators in the value chain for pharmacy and specialty pharmacy. Blue Cross will continue to invest in the critical relationships we have with our pharmacy benefit management partners – Optum Rx, ESI and Alliance Rx Walgreens Prime. These partners are vital components of our strategic management of drug benefits for customers with pharmacy coverage – they manage drug pricing to those customers, manage pharmacy utilization management programs and stock and deliver drugs. Our vision for Evio is that the company will complement these efforts – and deliver innovations that further enhance Blue Cross’ ability to provide our members with a simpler, more affordable pharmacy experience and partner with our providers to deliver quality health outcomes.
