Specialty Pharmacy Access, Innovation & Independent Pharmacy Growth | TWIRx

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1:21Allison Arant: You are listening to the Global Network of Podcasters dedicated to the pharmacy profession. Welcome to the Pharmacy Podcast Network.

1:55It's Friday. Todd Urie here with This Week in Pharmacy. Excited to be back on the twerk sphere. I just made that word up. Twerk sphere. I don't think it works. It stumbles. It's awkward. Do a lot of awkward things live, but that's what we're bringing you. Live information today, September 11th, 2026. 25th anniversary of 9-11 and the horrible events that happened 25 years ago. That's crazy. I remember exactly where I was, AT &T business, downtown Pittsburgh, and then just everything that happened, just thoughts and prayers and blessings to the families and to the healthcare workers and to the firefighters and everybody went through that.

2:41I just, uh i'm i'm sure some of you that are listening uh remember where you were when that took place and yeah oh it's it's a it's a um it's something hard to think of and and i there's always good that can come out of it i don't know if you guys saw the drones that built a light of and it was like 2 ,960 some 60 lights that were there representing the lives that were lost. It was gorgeous. It was a great commemoration. There's so much that we can do in lifting up our cultures as well as our society and merging together. That's what the United States has always been. I don't want anyone to forget that.

3:27We're celebrating what's coming at the end of September today, Inspire 2026. I'm so thrilled to be back. And guess what? We're in DC with Sheila Arquette and the NASP team, the Pharmacy Podcast Network. I think this is our sixth year partnering with the NASP. We will be inside their booth. If you have not signed up for the press coverage, please do so. You can go to pharmacypodcast.com, go to the blog section. I think they call it the ppn um the pulse yeah and click on the link with the inspire picture of sheila and i are sitting there in front of their booth i'm excited uh there's a lot going on in the news um i'm gonna do news today i'm not gonna do it by myself because i'm bringing back my friend and someone who's been on Twerks many of times, support from Clearway Health.

4:29Alison Arant, get into the studio here. Let's get started with Twerks.

4:33Allison Arant: Hey, Todd. Thanks for having me. You're very welcome. It's nice to have you back in the studio and Twerks in a way. What are you doing this weekend? This is, it's a big, it's a big recovery week. Like I said, it felt like a five-day week. I don't know how you're feeling, but it felt long to me. I mean, or like a 10-day week. Sometimes it feels like the short weeks or two weeks crammed into one, but it's been a good week. It's been a good week at Clearway this weekend. We have fall sports starting back. So I don't know how many listeners spend a lot of Saturdays on sidelines and bleachers. I certainly do.

5:10Allison Arant: So doing a lot of sports this weekend and resetting for next week. Yeah. Football season's back. I'm so excited. This is the opening weekend of the NFL Go Steelers. And it's like for us in the pharmacy industry, when fall starts creeping up, the kids go back to school, football season comes back. I feel like it's our new year. It's never in January. I think pharmacy's year to me, things start heating up in the fall of the year because we're getting ready for big conference seasons. for getting ready for prepping for what's coming in the next new year. There's a lot of work to do in the fall and I get jazzed up.

5:56So I think the NASP Inspire helps us to do that. You're going to be there with your team. You're going to be part of the podcast press coverage. We cannot wait to see you in person and not necessarily always on a Zoom. But hey, this week in pharmacy, man, It's like, couldn't have picked a better time to get you guys on. We have a big announcement from Clearway Health. And this came out on PR Newswire just this week in pharmacy. Clearway Health scales operational excellence with appointment of a new chief operating officer. Allison, tell me about this gentleman on the Clearway Health team.

6:38Allison Arant: We are really excited to welcome Rishi Seth as Chief Operating Officer of Clearway Health. Rishi joined us on Tuesday. He has had a full week getting to know a lot of the team members across Clearway Health and preparing to meet a lot of our clients as a part of the client organization. We're just really excited about him joining. The timing of him being here is really his pivotal point where we are starting to scale so much more as our client organization grows and really bringing the connectedness of what a service organization requires to grow. You know, we are a people first organization. We provide people that power the services that we provide to hospitals and health systems.

7:22Allison Arant: It's backed by a lot of product, technology, strategy, and a lot of corporate support. And so, Vishi's guidance and leadership is going to be hugely important to carry us into this next phase of growth for Clearway Health. So excited Rishi is here. I'm excited. We got to get him on twerk sometime and dig in. And I'm going to give him some time though, because it's fire hose right now for Rishi. So I'm sure he's taking it all in and transitioning from his previous experiences, but he's going to be up and running quick. I know it. And I'm excited for you guys. And this kind of infrastructure from a people perspective really helps the rest of the organization.

8:06That's not all we're talking about this week in pharmacy. Let's talk about some of the expansion of health system pharmacy. The whole reason Clearway clears the way for health system pharmacy out there to build better specialty pharmacy systems. Talk to us about this.

8:24Allison Arant: I like I like clears the way Todd. We'll start using that. We'll credit. We'll credit pharmacy podcast. Exactly. Well done. We we are so thrilled. Lurie Children's Hospital opened their specialty pharmacy in August. And so we traveled to Chicago and joined them for a ribbon cutting ceremony that was so special. We got together with their team after what had been many, many months of planning. They opened this ambulatory center in Schaumburg in the summer of 25. And there was an absolute perfect place to put a specialty pharmacy. And so as we started our partnership planning process with them back in 2024, the vision was that this building would hold the future specialty pharmacy for Lurie Children's Hospital.

9:13Allison Arant: And so they have done so much. They're providing more outpatient access for patients and their families in that community. And we are just so honored to be a part of it. Clearway Health in the last three months has opened three new pharmacies. Of course, the one in Chicago, a new one in New Jersey, and a new one in California. And so, you know, we talked about scalability and really bringing our desk with more rapid speed for our clients. And so just a lot of tremendous work from the Clearway Health team and a lot of trust from our clients. And we could not be more thankful. Thank you for mentioning that.

9:53I think it's important. And there's an aspect of this that I want to touch on. we hear from five-year and 10-year career pharmacists right now how they want more. They want to dig into a specialty. They want to go for pediatrics or senior care, or they want to get involved. There's a new sports pharmacy headquarters in Miami, Florida that just opened up last week. It's all about sports pharmacy and athletics. So Clearway Health and what you're doing in a health system are going to expand opportunities for pharmacists that want to dig into specialties. And it's kind of a double specialty. It's the specialty in general, but then it's specialty in this case, taking care of babies, taking care of children and how sensitive that is.

10:47I think that's exciting because I'm going to WVU next Monday, this coming up Monday, meeting up with Dr. Mark Garofoli. I'm going to be talking to the P3 class. This is the fourth year I'll be doing this. And I'm going to bring this article to them to show them that you may not even realize what opportunities are out there for you as a pharmacist. And you've witnessed some of that change and some of those expansions.

11:16Allison Arant: Absolutely. I think it's an important thing for pharmacy schools and mentors to be talking to these pharmacy students about. And even other students in undergrad who may be deciding what the next step for them looks like, because for so, so long, pharmacy was a retail job. You could work in a retail pharmacy or you could work in a hospital or health system pharmacy. And even then, it was most often in an inpatient space. But you're spot on. There is so much more opportunity beyond the traditional pharmacy roles. Those are wildly important on the front lines in providing access and care to patients.

11:53Allison Arant: And then you have companies like Clearway Health who are hiring brilliant pharmacists, clinical pharmacists to do the work that we do. You have manufacturers who have pharmacists doing a lot of the research to create these new drugs that are coming out. When we look ahead, you talked about fall being the kickoff to the pharmacy year. It's really that last three or four months stretch where we really get our arms around what the drug pipeline is going to look like for 2027 and start to plan accordingly. And it's really exciting to take in our role. We take, you know, the types of specialists and the types of drugs that our clients and their providers are writing for and really start to educate on what's coming out of the drug pipeline and what some of the new therapies are.

12:39Allison Arant: So we're bringing some of that experience and expertise, knowing that a provider in a specialty clinic may not be tracking a drug pipeline as closely as we are. So tremendous opportunities for pharmacists to work alongside in so many different capacities. So really tremendous work to you and to WVU and to other folks who are exposing pharmacists to all of the different opportunities that there are in specialty. All right. You and I are jazzed up about Inspire 2026. There was a rebranding at the NASP, the National Association of Specialty Pharmacies. It's no longer the annual conference and expo.

13:20It is now called Inspire 2026, or just Inspire this year's 2026. Shout out to Sheila and her marketing team. The inspiration that does come from this event, it always inspires me. And like I said in the opening, we're going to definitely be there. So is Clearway Health. Give us a little preview of what you're excited about heading to Inspire in our capital, nation's capital, D.C.

13:45Allison Arant: We're excited to be there. And to Sheila and the entire NASP team, congratulations on the launch of Inspire. We are excited to be there and to join alongside NASP and the rest of the folks that are going to be at National Harbor. The thing that I always look forward to is the learning and just hearing what's new in the industry and thinking about the way forward. A couple of things that I think about, especially this year, one, we are hosting demos for Clearway Health's proprietary specialty pharmacy patient management solution called Charter and would love to have folks join us in booth 302 to share a little bit more about what Charter does and how it can help to support specialty pharmacy workflows.

14:31Allison Arant: I think technology is a really big topic that a lot of folks are going to be looking at at Inspire this year. For us, Charter sits at an intersection of existing solutions that a health system has. So you have your EHR, you have your pharmacy dispensing system, TPAs, other solutions that support pharmacy and 340D workflows. But oftentimes, we have to figure out how to fill the gaps in between them to make sure that patients are receiving their drug on time, following medication adherence, meeting the requirements for accreditation, and all of those types of things. For us, charter is what powers and enables that work that makes it easier for clinicians and more accessible for patients.

15:17Allison Arant: Technology broadly is something I'll be looking out for a lot at Inspire in a few weeks. I have seen a flood in the market of different technology solutions, and I think hospitals and health systems have a lot to learn, a lot to choose from when they're thinking about technology that's required to support their programs, because we've seen kind of this shift many, many years ago when we were in the peak of EHRs for the first time. I think hospitals and health systems had this best-in-class approach where they were choosing the different tech solutions from different vendors that were going to best serve the needs of their organization.

15:55Allison Arant: We then moved into this single, consolidated, integrated patient record era, and everyone shifted to that single-threaded approach. And I think pharmacy is in a really interesting place right now because for so long, we have had only EHRs and dispensing systems and a few ancillary software solutions to help us. And really finding one that anchors and creates this foundation to really integrate that pharmacy care is an interesting spot for our industry to be in. And so whether it's best in class or really thinking about how you create this collection of tools that's going to best serve the organization, there's a lot out there and a lot to learn about it.

16:34Allison Arant: So I think Inspire is a great place to do it. The guidance around this event also includes things that aren't necessarily attached to the disease state and the medication in and of itself. And that are special. And this is something I think you've heard me say this before, Alison, a shout out to Mark Cuban. He's done some really wonderful things in getting roadblocks for PBM reform and proving things. And his stardom has brought a lot of attention. And the public understands now what's going on in the insurance realm. And it just has to be some changes to be made to deliver and better access to care and getting things paid for.

17:17But social determinants of health and other things that surround the patient, this is what specialty pharmacy is. Specialty pharmacy excellence and specialty pharmacy champions, they don't forget about the other aspects of care. The families, transportation, food, shelter, other things that are impacting healthcare. Clearway has your fingers on the pulse of that piece of what it is to be a specialty pharmacy. Talk to our listeners about how important that is in your missions.

17:52Allison Arant: Social determinants of health and its connectedness, and I would even say dependence on pharmacy, is critically important in our communities. So we have long known that pharmacists are often the clinicians or caregivers that a patient sees most often, more than their primary care provider, certainly more than some of their specialist providers. And so pharmacists and pharmacies play a critical role in population health and community health. When we think about social determinants of health and the relatedness to specialty pharmacy, there are so many connection points. You talked about food, shelter, transportation, all of those things, especially for specialty, which has such a high touch requirement and the complexity of care tie in.

18:40Allison Arant: We think about the work that specialty pharmacy patient liaisons do in the care journey for a patient who is on a specialty therapy. You have a liaison who has this relationship with a patient for the entire time that they are prescribed a specialty medication. And so from the very beginning of providing patient education, talking to them about their choice to have their prescription filled by the hospital or the health system pharmacy where they already receive care, then talking about how that medication is going to get to them. The high majority of specialty medications are mailed or shipped or delivered to a patient's home.

19:21Allison Arant: We have had incredible stories of service for team members who are supporting these patients on specialty therapies. One story is a patient who did not have transportation to come pick up a medication, and one of our team members delivered it to their home in a snowstorm, in an incredible winter storm. We've had scenarios where patients were trying to figure out how they were going to afford medication. One mother that one of our liaisons supported, had twins, both of them needed an inhaler. And when we were trying to figure out the cadence of refills for this inhaler, realized that she was sharing one inhaler between both of her children and really helping someone understand that we have pathways to help you.

20:11Allison Arant: We will help you with affordability, access to care, delivery. Food is medicine. Do you have access to food? We're connecting patients to care and case managers to then provide support from food pantries to make sure that they have a comprehensive approach to care so that they get the medication and the medication is effective. And so the role of specialty pharmacy and social determinants of health cannot be understated. A few weeks ago, Samir Shah, who is the president of Mount Sinai Hospital at Sinai Chicago, joined us on a webinar and shared a lot about the social determinants of health in Chicago.

20:52Allison Arant: Many folks, I'm sure, have heard about the disparities of health in different zip codes across the Chicagoland area. and Samir absolutely attributes specialty pharmacy as an improvement of access to care that even drives things like reducing readmissions and improving adherence, increasing connectedness to the community workers that they have established as a part of the Sinai Chicago organization. So I think it can be measured and described in a lot of ways, and they are tangible ways when we think about the impact of specialty pharmacy on social determinants of health in patients and communities.

21:31I agree. And it's up to the collective to understand what it is to pass the baton and assure that it's still driving that care. It's the pharmaceutical manufacturer. It's the payment methods. It's the entities like the health systems that are out there that are building their specialty. and then Clearway Health coming in and saying, hey, here's all the gaps that you're missing and here's what we've learned from the success of other specialty pharmacies that have sprouted and grown out into the community through the health system. We are so excited to be supported by Clearway Health clearing the way for better specialty pharmacy for sure.

22:17And I cannot wait to see you in Washington, D.C. and spend time digging into some of the special content that we're going to reserve. We're not giving away all the secrets today on twerks. You'll have to tune in. And if you're going to Inspire 2026, make sure you stop by the NASP's booth and say hello and participate in the show. Or just say hi. Let me know who you are and what you're doing and make sure you connect with Allison and her team. Tell us what your booth number is again.

22:51Allison Arant: Clearway Health is at booth 302 at Inspire 2026. So excited. We have a great show coming up. Allison, I love doing news with you. You'll have to come back on twerks and we'll do more news. You guys brought all the news today. I love it. Thanks so much. It was great to be here. Always fun to have a chat with you, Todd. Absolutely. Hey, more twerks coming up. Rick Seip, CEO, president of Value Drug. Stand by. We got more twerks coming. Healthcare innovation moves quickly, but innovation is only valuable when clinicians can trust the information behind it. That is where FDB, or First Data Bank, makes the difference.

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24:23For healthcare technology companies, it means access to proven drug knowledge that can strengthen products, support responsible innovation, and improve the decisions made at every point of care. Learn how FDB is connecting trusted drug knowledge, intelligent technology, and patient-centered care. Visit FDBHealth.com. First Data Bank, powering the medication decisions that move healthcare forward every single day worldwide. Hey, welcome back to This Week in Pharmacy. This is an interview that I've been waiting for, and as a promotional organization and public relations organization, I am so incredibly proud to be a part of the 2026, the Next Dose Summit on October 14th through 15th in Covington, kentucky which is right on the border of ohio in the cincinnati area um we are media partners of this event i'm so excited to be working with dr jordan uh jordan welcome to twerks and like i said i am pumped up about the next dose summit thank you todd listen thank you for just believing enough in what i'm doing and trying to accomplish that you're supporting me in this i really appreciate it.

25:36We also have Melinda Fowler. Dr. Fowler is known as the hormonal pharmacist. She set the world on fire with not accepting the standards and not accepting the status quo around changes in men and women as we get older. Melinda, it's so good to see you. Thank you for having me. I'm excited about what's coming. I'm excited about Jordan and her excitement about this whole event. And I'm so glad that Pharmacy Podcast is joining us to. Absolutely. Jordan, I want you to give our listeners who might not be watching us on YouTube or we're streaming on LinkedIn right now. Talk to us about this event. Talk to us about how this is different.

26:16I know why I think it's different, but you're the creator of this. So tell us what is the Next Dose Summit? You know, I can't tell you how long I spent thinking about this. And I'm actually, that's if you know me at all, you know, I'm just like, I'll start with an idea and then I'll just run with it. So that's kind of what this started as. And I think, um, last year, what happened, I started my consulting business about a year and a half ago legally, and then actually started promoting it about a year ago. And I'm sure Melinda can attest to this, but when someone sees something new and different, everyone's really curious about what are you doing?

26:56How do I do that? I didn't know I could do that. And so there's this whole, I think, audience of pharmacists students even who are curious too, who want to know how to do things differently. So it's very scripted, right? Like we've got community pharmacy, we've got hospital pharmacy, we've got industry, we've got your pockets of pharmacy, but there's just this whole, like the only thing constant is change. And in this profession, it is evolving rapidly. But I think what's happening is I don't know necessarily that pharmacists, and I would say this for anybody, but you don't know what you don't know.

27:33And so for people who are out here doing different things and figuring it out on their own, it's really fun to watch them, like people like Melinda and the whole speaker lineup that you've got pulled up there, Todd. And so for me, what this has become is just creating a two-day non-traditional pharmacy experience designed to show pharmacists, student pharmacists. I've even created a space for technicians because for me, having worked with technicians in community pharmacy for 20 years and started in pharmacy as a technician myself, you never know when you can inspire a technician to want to be a pharmacist.

28:12And so like, if we're talking about changing the profession and we're talking about bringing in new talent, we're talking about you know like where's the interest in pharmacy again it's this summit and it's this summit because you are watching these pharmacists out here doing wild phenomenal things on their own independently or in collaboration with other providers um and they're just delivering care differently and I think where pharmacy is going I want to expose the pharmacists who are out here doing the really cool things. And so I wanted to create a space where this is not CE. This is not a massive exhibit hall.

28:49This is not your traditional continuing education conference masses all coming in where it's very not personal. So I wanted something personal, intentional, engaging. I wanted to bring in the pharmacists strategically who are doing very different things, but then also bring in the audience of the ones who are watching them, but then can also come there and learn, but then maybe they're going to leave inspired and instill confidence in the fact that they can also do those things. And how cool is it to put you in front of the people who are doing those really cool things so that you can learn from them and they can be a resource to you, but then we can take those pharmacists and put them back out in the community.

29:27So that is what the Nexto Summit is. And I'm really excited about it because I do think it's new. It's different. I'm so thankful for all of the speakers and you too, who have backed me on this and they believe enough in it that they're showing up to because they believe the same thing. So they're doing it. And so they're coming to talk to everyone else to show them you can, it's not easy, but you can do this too. And that's what I'm really, really excited about. I love that. I love the groundwork. I love the stage being set because it is the next dose. It's literally the next phase of what's happening to the pharmacy markets and what the pharmacist going to be doing.

30:06I've been watching this change humming louder and louder and louder. It started about 12 years ago where I started understanding, wow, I had no idea a pharmacist could become the pharmacogenomics expert or the hormonal expert or the pediatric expert. And then the board of specialties, even in of itself, are starting to expand. Melinda, what attracted you to being a speaker because before we started recording, Jordan confessed that she reached out to you first and within moments, almost like that Jerry Maguire line, you had me at hello, like you just signed right up. So why are you part of this?

30:46Oh my goodness. I want pharmacists to know that there is more to pharmacy than counting pills. There's so much more. And in the days of AI and, you know, robotics are coming. We've got to learn how to pivot out of the space and practice at the top of our license. And I think back to Melinda from seven years ago. I was the one that thought, I'm stuck in this career. I'm going to be counting to 30 for the rest of my life. I'm going to be the old woman that's got Alzheimer's and I'm still going to be counting to 30. Um, but I've got to figure out a way to enjoy my work. And so it was actually through healing myself through perimenopause and all the hormonal changes that come with midlife that I learned how to do hormones.

31:35And I was like, Hmm, can I teach other women how to do this? Maybe. And then it became other pharmacists looking at me and saying, how did you do that? And so I'm like, when she asked me, I was like, oh my gosh, you spoke to my soul. Like, this is like godsend for me to be able to get my message out there to more people that were just like me. I mean, I'm sure there's people that are going to be attending because they have reached out to me and said, I feel stuck in my job. I want to know what else is out there. And what better lineup of people that Jordan has amazingly lined up. I mean, you've got Delon Canterbury and Jesse McCullough and you've got Melody Hartzler and Jay Phipps and all these people that I have looked at for years and admired their work.

32:23And man, I'm just pumped to be able to like actually lock arms with them and shake their hands. And actually, I mean, you feel like, you know, people through LinkedIn or Instagram or whatever, but actually getting to know people and networking is so powerful. So just practicing at the top of your license is a possibility. And I know as pharmacists, we're real inside the box. We're real. We got to stay to the letter. It's black or white, you know, and that's a good thing. That's what makes us good at what we do. So it's kind of a challenge for us to stretch our creative brains and help kind of think of what else is out there.

33:02And so the lineup of people that are going to be there is freaking amazing. Jordan, you've done a great job getting that lined up. You're just like a rock star. And getting Todd to come and promote it for us is even the icing on the cake. So I cannot wait. Thank you. I'm excited as well. Jordan, you've picked some people that are nothing. There's not one, I would say, I want to say ordinary. Like there's no one that hasn't just blasted and paved their own way and what they wanted to build and they believe in themselves. They have connections to pharmacy. They're either a pharmacist or a technician, even a student that isn't even become a PharmD yet.

33:46I'm so excited about her. I told you about her. I know. And I reached out and told, and Saki was very much the same way. She was like, absolutely. When is it? I want to go. And that was, that was very strategic and intentional too, because I thought what better way to showcase this to students and to show them a student that has already got this entrepreneurial spirit and sees an opportunity and is filling a gap and is teaching people that are coming in behind her. So I'm really excited about Saki too. And Saki's mom's a pharmacist and her mom's coming too. So I'm really excited about that. But the speaker lineup is, it was very intentional, very strategic.

34:29I wanted, I wanted people like, even like, look at Janan. Janan is a pharmacist. She's in Louisville, Kentucky, but she, she publishes books. Like the other point of this was to also all these people are pharmacists, but they also even, you can even take something that you're passionate about outside of pharmacy. So like Melinda's talking about, we do have burnout culture, right? And so there may be people who love what they do, but then they thought passions outside of pharmacy. So, okay, great. How do you maybe build a business or integrate some of your pharmacy knowledge or background into building a business like Jay?

35:09Jay is running a personal training company and he's investing for Bitcoiners. So he's taking all of his, like he's got a full daytime job, but he has created a business on the side that he can take that education, training, and knowledge into fueling something else that he's passionate about too. So whether you are a pharmacist who has built a business and you have transitioned into your own business and you're delivering care that way, like Delon, um, deprescribing pharmacist and Melinda, who's hormonal pharmacist or Jill, who's peptide pharmacist, um, or you've got something you do part-time and then you've got your consulting business or your independent practice that you're doing too.

35:49So the speaker lineup was intentional because I wanted to showcase people who maybe started in community pharmacy and have transitioned into doing something else or people who are their full-time job is XYZ type pharmacy, but they've got things on the side or just showcasing pharmacy and pharmacists exactly what we are, just jack of ball trades, we can do anything. And I'm showcasing that. When showcasing it is great, but also the networking that you're going to get from being there. I can think back to my very first pharmacy conference I went to. I was scared to death. I felt like a fish out of water.

36:27It was functional medicine conference. So there were physicians and PAs and MPs, and I didn't feel like I deserved to seat at the table. And I remember Melody Hartzler and Lauren Castle were there with Functional Medicine Pharmacists Alliance had just started and they put out a Facebook Messenger group message and said, if you're at this conference, meet us in the hotel lobby and we'll go to dinner. And I was scared to death. I told my husband, do you think I should, do you think I should do this? I'm freaking out and he's like, it's dinner. Go meet some people. It's dinner. And so I met them, did not know them from Adam, just had seen their faces on Instagram, Facebook.

37:05We went to dinner, had the best time, networked, And now I'm so proud to call them my friends. And so I'm glad that Melody is going to be there and speaking too, because I already know her. And so I want that connection with so many other pharmacists so that when we do see each other showing up and doing things big and innovative, that we can be like, hey, I know her, you know, and I've met her in the networking that's going to be here is just going to be amazing. Another thing, Jordan, you said that there are pharmacy students coming. that brings joy to my heart because we have to start brainwashing the next generation of pharmacists that you do not have to go a traditional path.

37:47And as much as I think every pharmacist should experience six months, 12 months, maybe two years of working in retail because of the community interaction of the people, it's almost like bootcamp for, you know, becoming a pharmacist it's not the end-all be-all meaning you that's your your life at a hospital system or your life in community pharmacy in in a retail space that's not the only thing that's happening out there and i've been observing the blossoming of pharmacists who have paved their own way for forever i mean tony gara was one of our first podcast um network participants and he had a show that was all about pharmacy future leaders.

38:32It was about, let's interview some of these pharmacy students. And we did several features. Brandon Antonopoulos out of Pittsburgh, he had a dream at a P2 that he would open a pharmacy that had nothing to do with insurance. Guess what? Him, the same as Kyle McCormick out of Pittsburgh, Blueberry Pharmacy and Forward RX, those pharmacies take zero insurance and they're in control of their whole destiny. They don't have to worry about, I mean, it took forever to get it started. I mean, take a little longer than what you would think. But thank goodness, both of their wives were pharmacists. They leaned on the income of the stable to grow the business.

39:12And now the business is blooming. And they are starting a fire that is being watched nationally by wholesalers, by insurance providers, by organizations that have other programs that are cash-based that are now starting to come after them saying, Hey, we kind of like this because we don't have to work, worry about a PBM or we don't have to worry about something else. It's, it's the patient, it's the physician, it's the physician order. It comes to the pharmacist, the pharmacist gets to embrace the patient, sit down with them, take their time. There's no metrics. There's, I mean, it's just like, yeah, it's almost like going back in time the way that, you know, pharmacy used to be.

39:49And I want, I want the students that come to this event to talk with and network with so many of these speakers and understand, listen, this is very capable. It's very possible to do. You have to be committed to it. Your passion might start out as a side hustle, just like mine. When I worked a full-time 40, 60-hour-a-week job, I did podcasting when I came home. There was no money in podcasting. I made zero dollars until like 2018-ish, 2019-ish. And now it's a PR agency. that I get to promote events like this and be a part of what is the next thing happening in our industry. So this summit is, I think, more important than maybe what you realize, Jordan, because it's part of the gasoline that we have to feed the fire of change and we have to keep it going and make the next generation realize you do not have to do a traditional role as a pharmacist forever.

40:51You know, maybe it's good experience up front, but it's not the end. It's not the end of you. It's not the cul-de-sac of your, of your, uh, of your career. Yeah. I appreciate that. And I think too, and I'm not going to speak for Melinda, but I think we're in a lot of the same groups on social media. I mean, and there's always, everyone's out there looking for different opportunities or like, what are all these extra certifications I could get to get a better job or who or what do you think is most valuable when it comes to time, money and investment in XYZ program to get this job specifically?

41:27And I think too, and I'm saying this because I read it all the time and I see it, but I also, you just said it, Todd, like bringing people, like how do we fuel the fire of change? And right now it does seem very scripted from a student perspective. They know three things, hospital, community or residency. It's very like, this is what I have to do. And it's because we don't do a good job putting things like this in front of them, but also to everyone that, that is inspired by people like Melinda and they aspire to want to do those same things. It may not be that you need 15 ,000 extra certifications.

42:07It may just be that like, you need to connect with Melinda to figure out what exactly did you do? And could you put me on the right path to maybe do that on my own. And so the summit is not intended to tell people how to build a business, but to expose you to all of the different types of things that pharmacists are doing so that you can, to Melinda's point, network and create those relationships and have a connection to go home and be inspired to, you know what, I'm really passionate about pharmacogenomics. I know because I met this person that I should get this certification, but I can connect with this company or I can do this lab partner or just creating those relationships so that people have the foundation to build their own business because it makes sense.

42:55Yes. All right. We are wrapping up this week in pharmacy, the 2026, the next dose summit is October 14th, 15th, 2026 in Covington, Kentucky. There will be a link in our show notes, but if you google the next dose summit it does come up the next dose summit it comes right up on google it's already hot so it's already out there on facebook it's got its own landing page and so look it up people the next dose summit i want to see you there reach out to us reach out to melinda on linkedin if you have some questions reach out to jordan um any of the speakers if you have questions. Don't miss an opportunity to be part of what's happening next in pharmacy, the Next Dose Summit.

43:46And thank you so much for being here, Melinda and Jordan. I appreciate it. Thanks for having us. Your patients need convenient and cost-efficient healthcare. And in the increasingly competitive pharmacy environment, independent pharmacies shouldn't have to struggle. That's where Value Drug Company steps in. At Value Drug, we treat our members like family, providing first-rate, personalized service and the support they deserve. While you provide exceptional care for your patients, we provide you comprehensive solutions to help you become efficient, productive, and profitable. We offer online ordering and mobile capabilities with our state-of-the-art distribution center to maintain quality and control.

44:28We help your community pharmacy get connected to the right service providers and access your market. And we don't stop there. Learn more about how Value Drug can help your pharmacy thrive at valuedrugco.com. That's valuedrugco.com. Value Drug Company is a proud sponsor of the Pharmacy Podcast Network.

44:52Hey, we are back on twerks. It's This Week in Pharmacy and we are back with Rick Seip. this is becoming like a regular thing for us to meet up here on TORX. Absolutely. Well, it's great to see you again. So really enjoy the time we get to spend together. I know. We're here at the headquarters again. Where is the headquarters of Value Drug Company? Right outside of Altoona, Pennsylvania, and Duncansville. So we're about two hours east of Pittsburgh. New facility, around 10 years old, warehouse. We got to take a tour last time we were here, let's talk about something very important. This is important for pharmacy owners, small mini chains, and that is expansion.

45:34And that's the growth hockey stick that we're all on in expanding pharmacies that had an opportunity to pick up pharmacies that have closed over the pharmacy deserts that have been out there. Rite Aid, we know that that's right in our backyard here in central Pennsylvania, but let's talk about it as a strategic business partner and wholesaler from value drugs perspective. Absolutely. Well, there's been just some tremendous opportunities and challenges at the same time in the pharmacy industry. And really, we've taken the opportunity with some of the local, some of the closures to continue to expand and continue to just help with our services into the pharmacies and other markets as well, both at home but then expanding.

46:21So north into New York State, east as far as Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, but particularly west as well into Ohio and into Kentucky. And particularly when you get into rural areas, some of the services that other wholesalers and other partners of those pharmacies really have been sparse and really not only bringing just the wholesaler relationship but the services that we have for them to those areas as well. So Kentucky is special. Lots of pharmacy owners in Kentucky. Expansion to that point in delivery, when you think of the mile radius around the headquarters here, where are you mapping out expansion?

47:06Really as far east as through Cape Cod, Massachusetts, down through Virginia, out west through Kentucky, through Indiana, Ohio, and all the way through the Great Lakes. So those are all areas that we can reach overnight. And that's what's important to us. And we want to make sure that we can provide those services. So you order one night, the next day, that product is there for you and that you can count on that and can count on the product being there. And if for whatever reason we don't have a lot of pharmacies in that area, we'll make sure that we ship it in an alternative means like FedEx or UPS overnight.

47:44and make sure that you have that product as well. All right. And last time we talked, actually, it wasn't last time. It was the time before that. We were also talking about cash-based models, expansion of that. You know, there are pharmacies out there who may have three, four pharmacies, and when they decide to open up a new pharmacy, they're like, hey, let's go cash-based. Let's go cost-plus. Talk to us about the expansion of that model as well. We've, ironically, with some of the other closures that are happening, we knew and we've partnered. We piloted with some of our partners here in Pittsburgh in Blueberry and Forward Rx.

48:23But beyond them, if you start to look at other markets out into Ohio, into Connecticut, into Kentucky, where folks are starting to reach out and call and talk about cost plus. and that they have a cost plus and they look to expand that as that next pharmacy or converting a current pharmacy into cost plus. And they're seeing the benefits, one from the bottom line, but then secondly is just their interactions and being able to pull in more and more patients, especially in socioeconomic areas that are challenged. They can really bring in patients that they wouldn't normally be able to do. So that's been exciting to talk to more and more of those pharmacies.

49:01And it's not just a one or two store trend. This is this or one or two stores. It's really turning into a trend and really a change in the industry as we continue to move forward. I was lucky enough in the experience of the business of pharmacy to start a small buying group back in 2013 with a with a pharmacy owner, 17 retail locations, a long term care division all out of the Pittsburgh area. And our backbone wholesaler was H.D. Smith. And originally, H.D. Smith split off between H.D. Smith and then Smith. And then Smith went south, and then H.D. kind of hung out in Illinois somewhere. I can't remember the name of it.

49:44But when H.D. Smith shut down, and now Smith shut down, it's left this void, especially for our independent community pharmacies that rely on those kind of, I don't want to, more intimate relationships in some way because they just know the markets. The people that are the representatives in the markets that Smith was controlling and serving, people really had good relationships with that. If you move from a Smith to a Cardinal or a Smith to a McKesson or a Smith to a Syncora, it's a different vibe. So if you got an opportunity to go from Smith to value drug company, you're staying within that same element of understanding the business from that independent pharmacy perspective.

50:36And not that the three, you know, don't get it, but it's, you know, the vibe I'm talking about, Rick. It is. And we try to bring that, uh, that is, that's at the base or the core of our culture is to make sure that we're treating people the right way. And just speaking to us and how we interact with our pharmacies, it is that partnership. It is what do they need to succeed, giving that same information to them that they may need, and getting them specific information based upon their practice, just like what they had with Smith. And I like to even think that we were doing with our pharmacies just as much, if not better, and continue to bring that even into more areas.

51:19And it was funny you mentioned long-term care. As we've been going into different marketplaces, it's interesting to see how pharmacies that didn't either interact or interacted not with the Smith team or with value, to see how some of the information that they had and other areas that they could open their practice to do long-term care at home or how to lift that, how to open that up, and how to care for patients a little bit differently. And there's some real benefits to those pharmacies, both on the buying side and the reimbursement side, which we don't talk about enough, or you hear about it, but you just think it's so out of reach.

51:57And it's really not because so many things that independent pharmacies do really are already taking care of the patients, and it's just really getting the reimbursement and the savings of what they do every day. just like a pharmacist gives so much free advice without really billing for it. And there's so many opportunities to do that anymore that really pharmacies need to take advantage of it. And we want to make sure that we bring that opportunity to them and do it the right way. Part of expansion in my mind, if I'm looking for my wholesaler partner, I want a full line. I don't want things that I can't get based on maybe the larger three.

52:40I need technology for expansion. I need to rely on my wholesaler to bring me product services, durable medical equipment that will allow me to extend services into the home. So I know last time you were on twerks, we were talking a little bit about, if you didn't hear the episode, go back and twerks. I think it was the 28th of August. We're talking about a little bit about long-term care at home, remote patient monitoring. value drug company isn't limited as a smaller wholesaler in the capacity of wholesalers where you're you're not limiting your client and your customers on technology talk to us about technology absolutely and i think one thing uh really first to bring up is that service um is you're not limited for not only technology partners but also from a service side So you may need some items for durable medical equipment, and you may not see a product that we have.

53:37Simple contact or customer service. It doesn't get lost. It's not thrown into an abyss. You actually talk to a person who may not have the answer, but they go down the hall and get the answer and special order a product for you. If you think about the last time you went to a store and you were able to order a special order or something, I don't know that you can remember when that happened. And that happens every day for us. And that's what's exciting is bring those special items back to a pharmacy that they need, that Mrs. Joan needs to take care of herself. But then you need the technology to support that too.

54:09And whether it be remote patient monitoring, clinical billing, or just a technology partner for a dispensing system, those are things that each one of our pharmacy partners has a unique challenge, has a unique need. And that's what our teams here do. You don't have to talk to me. You can talk to any of the members of our team and they get you to the right person and people with that knowledge set to connect you to the right partner. And sometimes it's even the switch. Which switch should you work with or provider? And what's the best way that the technology interleases? Technology continues to change so fast with AI as well, too.

54:47And those are things that we're focused on here. I remember going with my mother to JCPenney and she looked for something, couldn't find it. She went back to customer service and started flipping through a magazine and then placing an order with the strange telephone that you'd pick it up and you'd be like, Hey, I want to place this order. And I'm like, there's, there's generations that will never get some of those nuances. This is hilarious when you said that. Why did I even think of that? It was weird. It's just like the old-fashioned catalog stores. And so you'd be very surprised at the amount of different items that we bring that sometimes you have to have a smaller partner, but a partner that values you to really get the most out of the relationship.

55:33And that's what we try to do. And a partner that understands the markets too, because what's going to continue to grow in certain parts of Kentucky may not be popular in Pittsburgh or may not be popular in Connecticut or something. And you have to understand that. And absolutely. And we're set up for that from even from our distribution facility perspective is we have items that everyone is using, all those brand names that roll off the top of your tongue. But then there's items that are lower velocity items that maybe are only used in one or two towns because of one provider may depend upon it.

56:08But it's critically important in, you know, hometown USA. And that's that's what we pride ourselves on is being able to pivot and get that. And and obviously get it at a reasonable cost, too, because just because you can get it, if you're not priced right, that doesn't help either. You can get a product, but if it's a million dollars, that doesn't help the situation. So I want to make sure that it's affordable to the pharmacies, and then they can either sell it directly to their patients or bill it appropriately. Hey, if you're listening, I want you to take a look at Value Drug Company. Rick, give them the domain name or where they can go to.

56:46It's going to be in the show note links. If you're driving, if you're walking, don't worry about it. It'll be in the show notes, but give our listeners where to get a hold of you. Absolutely appreciate it. ValueDrugCo.com. So ValueDrugCo.com. That's awesome. Hey, next time Rick comes back, it might not be Rick. It might be someone else on your team. We're going to talk about expansion again, but we're going to twist it and we're going to talk about specialty pharmacy. You might not realize this, listeners, but Value Drug Company is also in specialty pharmacy. Absolutely. We have two specialty pharmacies and really servicing not only patients, but physician offices here in Altoona and then also down in Memphis, Tennessee.

57:28And the specialty pharmacy business is extremely dynamic, but it's just so rewarding, especially we focus a lot on mental health and addiction. And in today's world, those are just so important areas. Very much. And having the pharmacist involved, especially in that addiction side. And then when I actually mental health as well, because sometimes physicians feel like they're throwing darts at a dartboard with a blindfold on when it comes to which medication to get the patient on. Hey, guess what? Run a pharmacogenomics test and let's dial in and see which drug's going to work. I can't wait to have you back, Rick.

58:06Thanks for being on Torx. Appreciate it. Thank you so much. See you next time. What does it mean for a pharmacist to go above and beyond? It may mean staying late to locate an essential medication, catching a dangerous interaction, improving access to a life-saving therapy, comforting a worried caregiver, or finding a solution when a patient feels they have nowhere else to turn. The Love Your Pharmacist campaign, presented by Clinagen, celebrates those defining moments and the remarkable professionals behind them. This awards program was established to recognize pharmacists whose leadership, clinical expertise, innovation, advocacy, and compassion create change.

58:46Across community pharmacies, hospitals, health systems, specialty practices, long-term care, academia, and other settings, pharmacists are improving outcomes and strengthening healthcare every day. Recognition matters. It reminds pharmacists that their dedication is seen. It introduces patients and healthcare leaders to the true scope of pharmacy practice. Most importantly, the Pharmacy Podcast Network proudly supports the Love Your Pharmacist Awards and their mission to honor excellence throughout the profession. Learn more about the awards and the pharmacists being celebrated at loveyourpharmacistawards.com because extraordinary service deserves extraordinary recognition.