Health care is constantly evolving, especially in the realm of medical pharmacy. Prime Therapeutics (Prime) has been tracking that evolution for 15 years through its annual Medical Pharmacy Trend Report, where Prime experts examine trends, analyze data and share drug forecasts to help health plans and health care leaders make the best prescribing and coverage decisions.   

In the most recent episode of the Pharmacy Friends podcast, host Maryam Tabatabai, PharmD, vice president of clinical information, sat down with three leading experts — Kristen Reimers, senior vice president of specialty clinical solutions; Lisa Polakowski, director of the Medical Pharmacy Trend Report; and Ben Messerli, actuarial manager — to reflect on the history and future of this cornerstone report.  

“This report really is a benchmark reference,” Reimers said. “It offers unbiased views of data that’s managed and unmanaged from different sources across the industry. … So there’s a multitude of different analyses that are included in the report.” 

What to watch for in this year’s report 

This year’s Medical Pharmacy Trend Report, which will debut in early September with a webinar to follow in October, will feature an integrated analysis of medical and pharmacy data for multiple sclerosis, immune globulin and oncology — offering a more holistic view of these therapeutic categories. “This year we have a separate integrated section of the report,” Messerli said. “This analysis has given us the opportunity to get a more complete picture of certain therapeutic categories that you can't really get a sense of if you're only looking at one benefit type or the other.” 

As in past years, the report analyzes per member per month (PMPM) spend, utilization and cost trends, and includes results from Prime’s annual payer survey — an increasingly influential tool for decision-makers. 

Polakowski highlighted the value of the survey, which this year includes insights from experts representing over 47 million covered lives. “Our readers really do use these survey results to assess whether they’re aligned with others in the marketplace,” she said. 

Health plan decision-makers interested in participating in next year’s survey can reach out via MPTrends@PrimeTherapeutics.com. 

Pharmacy Friends is a podcast dedicated to bringing industry experts to the same table to talk about what is happening in pharmacy today, what is coming and, most importantly, what it means to you. Listen to the full episode “15 years of medical pharmacy expertise & trends” at PrimeTherapeutics.com/Listen.