Member Spotlight: Pharmsource’s Formula for Success
One of HDA’s newest distributor members, Pharmsource, has found a successful formula for safe and effective healthcare distribution. Founded 10 years ago, the company brings together a leadership team with diverse and deep industry expertise, a customer-centric growth mindset and openness to emerging technologies. But at the core of everything they do is their team’s dedication to a critical mission: enabling patient access to medications and improving healthcare outcomes.
Based in Brunswick, Ga., Pharmsource actively supports independent, chain, online and pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) mail order pharmacies; animal health hospitals and oncology centers; and surgical centers across 50 states and Puerto Rico.
We spoke with their team about Pharmsource’s history, goals in joining HDA’s membership and unique value within the sector.
HDA: What are you looking forward to as a new member of HDA? Why was it important for you to join HDA?
Pharmsource: As a new member of HDA, Pharmsource and our [leadership] team are looking forward to several key benefits and opportunities. First, we hope to network and collaborate with HDA’s other members to create valuable partnerships and synergies within the pharmaceutical supply chain. Second, we are eager to become part of the leading platform for healthcare distribution industry representation and actively participate in HDA's advocacy efforts that inform policies and regulations to ultimately promote improved patient outcomes and drug access. Third, we are excited about using HDA’s resources, such as conferences and educational opportunities, to help our team navigate the evolving pharmaceutical business landscape. Pharmsource is committed to actively engaging with the association to advance the goals of the pharmaceutical supply chain. Our company exists today to contribute to the broader healthcare ecosystem.
HDA: Pharmsource is one of the fastest growing wholesalers in the U.S. What do you attribute to that growth?
Pharmsource: Our company has maintained a primary mission to support our customers’ efforts to care for patients and enable drug access, and ultimately outcomes, for the patient. Standing by this principle, we expanded beyond our original customer base of independent pharmacies to serve other segments. One of the primary drivers of this growth mentality is our lead team. Our team includes pharmacy and veterinary technicians, a medical doctor, an artificial intelligence (AI) engineer and even a professional stage artist! We believe this diversity of thought, combined with professional experience and knowledge is the backbone of our growth.
HDA: With the upcoming end of the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) stabilization period in November 2024, how has Pharmsource worked to be compliant with the law? What best practices and tips would you share with other organizations?
Pharmsource: It is very difficult, if not impossible, to achieve DSCSA compliance by taking a passive and siloed approach. At Pharmsource, we are focused on adopting one of the most advanced enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, assigning an internal project management team and working closely with industry partners like LSPedia to ensure our DSCSA readiness. At the same time, DSCSA compliance is not possible unless everyone in the supply chain is equally prepared. We do not see this as a solo game, but rather as a team sport including strong collaboration with our customers, manufacturers and service providers.
Through our customer research initiatives, we learned that independent pharmacy customers are facing two problems when it comes to DSCSA readiness; first, a general lack of awareness about how to be fully compliant, and second, the cost of implementing a DSCSA solution. Based on this feedback, we partnered with LSPedia to create a program that enables our pharmacy customers to receive LSPedia’s One Scan solution completely free (paid for by Pharmsource). We are quickly seeing a positive response to this program and have started to market it to all independent pharmacies in the U.S.
HDA: What are some recent initiatives or accomplishments Pharmsource is proud of and any future programs you would like to highlight?
Pharmsource: We are certainly proud of joining HDA and we consider it a major milestone in our journey that reflects our team’s dedication to our customers and suppliers alike. In addition, we are very proud of our Verified-Accredited Wholesale Distributors® (VAWD) accreditation and recent reaccreditation. Pharmsource also recently celebrated 10 years in business!
We are also at the forefront of wholesalers of our size that are experimenting with generative AI. We have an AI engineer and a team of external talented professionals working on extracting audio data from our 20,000+ monthly calls to customers to understand market dynamics using Machine Learning Models (MLMs). We have trained the MLMs to understand drug names spoken, competitive pricing and even to understand the sentiment of the market, with the goal of using this information to train our sales reps and enhance our customer experience.
HDA: Anything else you would like to highlight or share?
Pharmsource: We are proud and thankful to be a member of HDA. We wholeheartedly believe that collaborating with HDA and supporting its initiatives for the betterment of the industry is the right thing to do and is one of the major decisions we have made that will propel us further in the right direction.
Click here to learn more about the role and value of distributors in our healthcare supply chain. Read other blogs spotlighting HDA’s members and their initiatives, including KeySource’s distribution center tour, Henry Schein’s Chief Global Customer Experience Officer and Capital Wholesale Drug Company’s family business, on our Perspectives blog.
Note: This interview was condensed for length and clarity.