EVERSANA

KEY FEATURES

• They offer Patient Support Services , they partnered with the patient to drive awareness on program and services to make better health outcome.
• It has channel management to minimize risks and make better investment with it, it can access good infrastructure, highly-configurable warehousing and distribution solutions.
•  Agency & Promotions features to cover prescribed and patient engagement, this company is committed to help clients navigate the evolving models of care that engage each stakeholder in the process.
•  Pharmacovigilance, Medical Comm & Quality features to support safety and efficacy of the product with the right PV, medical communication and quality services for clients.
•  Data, insights and software features with complete tools from custom and syndicated research programs to global pricing and HEOR tools, ensure the sustained value of client's products across the life cycle.
•  Management & Regulatory Consulting features so clients can collaborate with Eversana to increase value the product life cycle by helping client understand and address the regulatory, strategic, tactical, and operational with pharmaceutical and biotech companies.

STRENGTH

• It offers a broad range of client products, from start-ups to established global pharmaceutical leaders with more than 500 clients and their mission to improve lives of patients around the world.
• It has more than 25 patient service programs and 100+ therapeutic areas in more than 20 locations.
• This company has served more than 50 years in the industry.
• It provides advice, market research, and complete its services with patient-support or boots-on-the-ground sales support.
• It is offering services for critical rare, complex specialties with management and regulatory strategy, marketing agencies, outsourced distribution, patient engagement and support, pharamacovigilance, medical communication, and analytic.

WEAKNESS

• This company had free cash flow under performance in 2018 because of material integration and high transaction costs.
• A company under Eversana called In addition, Triplefin (a HUB service company acquired in 2018) was challenged in 2018, because of technology issues and non-optimal staffing levels for certain contracts.

CLIENTS

• Its clients include but not limited to Universal Medica Group, Mission Pharmacal Company and Alamo Pharma Services.

CAREMETX KEY FEATURES

• CareMetx connect has hub technology platform or hub management software which has cloud base platform that allows all patient to access services. It can be in sourced for the internal hub and outsourced as external hub with hybrid model.
• eServices has features that can automate services to speed access, e-service transactions for Med and Rx and can be processed for providers with program enrollment and accessed using a broad range of devices.
•  Business Intelligence services that can access data and reports online and in real time through dashboards and portals that can be accessed by call center and data feeds from all vendors.
•  Stakeholder portal with real time monitoring to expand communication channels for initiating treatments and monitoring patients.

STRENGTH

• This company offers business intelligence that can be accessed by all vendors on real time to monitor patient and initiate treatments using the CareMetx portal.
•  E-Solution integration into market-leading EMRs, thereby moving typical Hub services out of the call center and placing them directly into provider-facing technologies.
• It has eHIPAA that simplifies process for healthcare provider to get patient's enrollment.

WEAKNESS

• It doesn't offer consulting services so vendors need to find out of strategic and government rules by themselves not by help from the portals,

LASH GROUP

KEY FEATURES

• This company offers ACA Coverage Expansion (ACE) Service Center’s is a service center that help patients navigate the complexity of healthcare to improve therapies and help connect patients with right insurance.
•  Clinical services features, with offers product life cycle and updates to patients, pharmacists, and prescriptions to help people meet FDA and compliance guidelines
•  Thumbprint Adherence Solutions is a service where the company makes the patient in mind and use the thumbprint to address predictive and condition-related health risks, empowering patients to be an active participant in their own care.
• Free drug distribution is a service where manufacturer sponsor free drug dispensing program, a vital tool to help patients start therapy quickly and avoid interruptions.
•  Patient assistance programs assist patients to give valuable insight to help vendors design patient assistance program that is in alignment with program goals.

ALTERNATIVES THAT EXIST OUT THERE

•  Clinical services from Lash Gorup competes with patient support services from Eversana.
• ACE Service center to choose health insurance have alternatives from EMC Online Customer Portal to choose which insurance or plan they want to take part in.
• Patient Assistance program from LAsh Group also has alternatives from Patient support Services from Eversana.
• Patient Assistance program has alternatives such as Patient Support from ConnectiveRx.

STRENGTH

• This company leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to get more information about patient and drive faster speed of therapy.
• It has award-winning technology in its CRM platform and analytics ecosystem with best in class technologies to accelerate patient access and the health workflow.
• It has more than 30 years experience in the industry.

WEAKNESS

• The solutions doesn't offer consultation services,
• It doesn't have Channel Management program that offers financial service expert advice to vendors and patient like Eversana.

CLIENTS

•  MediSafe.
•  TheraCom Pharmacy.

CONNECTIVERX

KEY FEATURES

•  Provides analytics services, business intelligence and data science in every service to make the information actionable for vendors and companies.
•  Patient and provider network with the largest network in health sector to give the greatest reach and impact.
• Patient support to help providers improve patient outcomes with the most advanced technology-enabled support services.
• Payment and reimbursement to make the patient in ease while doing payment and reimbursement.

STRENGTH

• It has 1.5 million providers and 150 million patients via EHR and 60 million patients via pharmacy, it has a very large network.
• Its network in pharmacy including 60,000 adjudicate copay and 16,000 communications and 7,000 Pharmacist with email.
• More than 100 manufacturers and 570 brands that work with ConnectiveRx.

WEAKNESS

• The company does't offer financial expert advice to help patient with the payment and financial service nor, Insurance expert platform to help patient get the best insurance such as Lash Group.
• It doesn't provide consultation for client to get the best information about regulations or any strategic impact unlike Eversana.

Research Strategy:

I. McKESSON

• McKesson’s HUB technologies and systems deliver greater visibility into the patient prescription journey that allows the team members to intervene at precise moments of need.
• The company’s hub solution includes program enrollment by award-winning teams, order processing, application processing, and ease of registration by phone, face, portal or application.
• McKesson partners with payers, hospitals, physician offices, pharmacies, pharmaceutical companies and others across the spectrum of care to build healthier organizations that deliver better care to patients in every setting.
• The company helps its customers improve their financial, operational, and clinical performance with solutions that include pharmaceutical and medical-surgical supply management, healthcare information technology, and business and clinical services.

• McKesson works as the central nervous system of health care. The company simultaneously execute thousands of critical operations that can improve the businesses of the customers and the lives of their patients.
• The company provides clinical care management services such as medication and side effect management support through the HUB for enrolled patients.
• Mckesson Corp accounts for the delivery of 1/3 of all prescription medicine in North America.
• McKesson Corp derives efficiencies of scale through its huge distribution network and operates 31 distribution centers.  
• The company is one of the big three in the pharmaceuticals distribution oligopoly and eclipses its rivals such as Cardinal Health Inc. in terms of revenue.

• McKesson has too much overdependence on the US market and reliance on major customers in this region. The company had to work on new innovations into its technology segment, resolving their weakness of overdependence on the US market.
•  Generic drug manufacturers may increasingly challenge the validity and enforceability of McKesson’s patents on branded pharmaceutical products which leads to increased competition and loss of the company’s market share.

•  Community Memorial Hospital of Menomonee Falls, Inc. is McKesson's client.

II. CARDINAL HEALTH SPECIALTY SOLUTIONS

• Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions is a subsidiary of Cardinal Health, Inc., a company that manufactures, packages, and distributes pharmaceuticals and medical supplies.
• Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions provides regulatory pathways and delivers proven channel and distribution solutions.
• The company tends to inform about product decisions with HEOR, analyzing data to understand prescriber behavior, and removing barriers to care with proven access and patient support services.

• Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions provides regulatory, clinical, reimbursement, technology, and distribution services to help healthcare professionals, payers, pharmaceutical, and biotech companies to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of caring for patients who are managing complex diseases.
• The company partners with customers to alleviate day-to-day administrative burdens, optimize business functions and to implement new innovations that move their businesses forward.
• Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions provides a full-range of hub services including benefits investigations and prior authorization coordination to speed access to therapy; clinical support programs that help patients overcome disease-management challenges while supporting adherence.
• The company’s other hub services include free drug programs delivered through our noncommercial pharmacy for patients who are uninsured or underinsured.

• Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions provides a high-cost treatment option associated with cell and gene therapies. Payers have multi-step processes that must be completed to assure that the patient meets the clinical criteria and that other, less expensive treatment options have already been tried.
• The company faced other financial weakness in terms of risk management. The cell and gene therapies can run from several hundred thousand to a million dollars per patient application.
• Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions needed to have the cash flow to handle that receivable sitting on their books for an extended period.

• Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions has not shared details about their clients.

III. TRIALCARD

• TrialCard provides technology-enabled pharmaceutical solution services. The company provides a range of physical and digital distribution and payment vehicles.
• The company provides pharmaceutical manufacturers with flexibility and adaptability based on specific program needs for pharmacy and medical benefit products.
• TrialCard uses technology to connect with hard-to-reach HCPs, delivering access and provides proven results for brand reach, share growth, and lead generation.

• TrialCard operates under three business segments with its competitive strength in areas such as Patient Affordability, which is a co-pay saving and voucher programs, Market Access, which is the hub services division, and Virtual Engagement, which is the outbound tele-promotion and healthcare professional lead generation solutions.
• The company operates as a valuable provider of outsourced services to pharmaceutical companies. 
• TrialCard provides innovative solutions to pharmaceutical manufacturers, providers, pharmacies, and patients.

• The company faced a major weakness in terms of adherence, prescription abandonment, customer experience, share of voice, case management, nursing support, and reimbursement support services.
• TrialCard faced major challenges in patient assistance, and the need for advanced analytics to drive business decisions.

• TrialCard has not shared details about their clients.

RESEARCH STRATEGY

1. ASEMBIA

•  Asembia provides pharmaceutical, channel management services, and offers clinical support, pharmacy networks, contract pricing, and therapy management programs for diseases such as hepatitis C, HIV/AIDS, oncology, organ transplant, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and other related services.
• The company's large and diverse membership includes specialty pharmacies, alternate care pharmacies, health systems, and retail pharmacies, which serve a broad range of patients affected by complex disease-states.
• Asembia offers a variety of programs with several features designed for its members, including traditional GPO discounts, rebates, fee-for-service plans, and other incentives.
• The company's 'Asembia Specialty Pharmacy Network (ASPN),' connects pharma/biotech manufacturers and patients with targeted specialty, retail, and health system pharmacies.
• The ASPN network leverages 'Asembia1' which features seamless integration with pharmacy dispensing systems and workflows used by specialty pharmacies to provide patient management. It also allows integration with shipping carriers, REMS support, integrated prescriber portals, and payer reports.

• Asembia is the first organization to establish and promote a specialty pharmacy as a distinct trade class, and concurrently developed the most significant group purchasing organization (GPO) focused on that segment. The company, thus, carved out a unique position for itself as both a hub services provider and a sort-of group purchasing organization for independent pharmacies.
• It offers the most comprehensive group purchasing contract portfolio for specialty pharmaceuticals and related services and is the first point of contact for pharma/biotech manufacturers and other vendors. This makes Asembia a go-to solution for the various pharmacies, wholesalers, and medicine manufacturers.
• The company is among the selected few in the industry to have a proprietary software system 'Asembia1' to support health care professionals treating patients with specialty medications. The same imparts in Asembia, a substantial competitive advantage as it is currently used by pharmacy clients across the nation who dispense specialty medications.
• Asembia call centers are URAC-accredited and employ highly qualified clinical specialists and care coordinators to ensure that patients are fully supported throughout their entire medication therapies. (Source#2)
• The company has continuously developed and perfecting state-of-the-art technology to meet the evolving needs of patients, prescribers, and pharma/biotech manufacturers. It has built key capabilities and tools such as Manufacturer Dashboard, Pharmacy Analytics, Prescriber Portals, Pharmacy Finder, Compliance Tools, and PA solutions which enables it to create a fully integrated pharma system connecting HCPs, manufacturers, and pharmacies.

• Asembia has not disclosed the names of its pharmacy clients. However, the company caters to pharmacies, wholesalers, manufacturers, payers, and prescribers.

• In spite of its successful national presence, Asembia has not been successful in expanding its operations globally and has been limited to US presence only. This restriction limits the revenue opportunities for the company and also makes it vulnerable to a national competition.
• The company lacks aggressive marketing strategies, and apart from its annual summit, the company has not undertaken any omnichannel campaigns to reinforce its presence or expand its operations.
• Asembia's services portfolio lacks some related services provided by other key players such as Digital Health Solutions, McKesson, etc., for the healthcare industry. These include developing audit-ready processes for audits conducted by regulatory agencies and internal auditors and creating comprehensive front-line training programs.

2. DILIGENT HEALTH SOLUTIONS

• Life science industry veterans Mary Anne Greenberg and Ron Abel founded Diligent Health Solutions. It is a woman-owned, multifaceted healthcare communication center serving the pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device industries.
• Its communication center features a variety of health care partners, which include nurses and PharmDs, as well as device technicians and healthcare communicators which helps it connect with patients faster and better.
• The company provides comprehensive patient-centric customer care and hub services on behalf of its pharmaceutical and biotech clients which feature onboarding and educating patients, imparting education on the technical support of diagnostic devices, triaging patient requests to the appropriate area, coordinating reimbursement activities for specialty pharmacy product, and acting as the primary contact for questions or requests apropos of co-pay and voucher programs.
• For the clients of wearable medical devices manufacturers, DHS features on-demand video connections with a diligent medical information specialist and/or technical specialists to provide remote patient monitoring and support the clinical use of the device.
• DHS has partnered with pharma companies, hospitals, and health systems to provide extensive, multi-channel, post-discharge, case management services designed to reduce re-admission rates and improve the continuum of care.
• The Company's solutions also feature educational content designed to meet the informational needs of patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals on behalf of health-focused organizations in both the private and non-profit sectors.

• DHS has a nimble and highly-integrated technology strategy which is not burdened with hardware-intensive legacy systems and is entirely cloud-based. This system provides more security, reliability, and flexibility to the company's systems and allows for faster scaling to meet the needs of its clients.
• The company is among the few in the industry to have an end-to-end quality assurance management plan in place which includes initial and ongoing training, annual review of standard operating procedures (SOPs), customized contact-evaluation measurements, regular calibration sessions, and quarterly in-person business reviews.
• DHS is continuously innovating and up-to-date with the shifting landscape faced by life science companies. It invests in its technology to keep current on the trends that impact life science companies, including patient-centric models, innovative partnerships, and the changing regulatory environment.
• The company provides multi-channel communication capabilities including phone (live and automated calls), chat, email, video conferencing, text messaging, etc., giving patients, caregivers, and health care professionals flexibility when communicating with the company's specialists on any issue, and at any given point in time.

• DHS has not disclosed the names of its pharmacy clients. However, it caters to pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device industries.

• DHS was established in 2019, and it lacks the experience and operational reach at this juncture. It has a limited presence within the US and lacks global reach and operations and also an extensive client base. It mainly focuses only on the life science industry currently.
• The company lacks any industry-specific accreditation like URAC for its call centers unlike some of its competitors such as Asembia whose calls centers are URAC-accredited. This truncates the bargaining power of the company with its clients and hampers its capability to garner a competitive edge.
• While the company does have a cloud-based technology platform, it lacks a fully integrated pharma system connecting HCPs, manufacturers, and pharmacies. Unlike other industry players, the company's platform does not feature any tools for pharmacy analytics, compliance, location finder, etc. The company also lacks any proprietary platforms and software, unlike other key players such as PharmaCord and Asembia.

3. PHARMACORD

• PharmaCord primarily features as the connector between manufacturers, patients, physicians, and payors and "provides patient support services to increase accessibility, clinical oversight, and market acceptance of prescription therapy."
• The company primarily caters to biopharmaceutical and life science clients through three integrated service platforms, namely 'Patient Support Services,' 'Pharmacy Services,' and 'Manufacturer Support.' It helps patients to access medications and receive the necessary support to help them through these platforms.
• PharmaCord's healthcare practitioner programs feature billing and coding support, appeals management, and other tools, many of which can be integrated into a customized portal or directly into the EHR.
• The company features Copay solutions that seamlessly integrate with all the leading copay solutions to help patients easily access client-sponsored copay programs. Also, the company offers a suite of therapy management services, such as refill coordination, side effect management tools, and other preventive measures to help the patient stay in therapy.

• STRENGTHS
• PharmaCord has grown with immense celerity in just a couple of years of its inception. It has more than quintupled its workforce, growing from about 30 employees in June 2018 to 160 in July 2019 and plans to expand to as many as 900 employees in the next three years. This capacity provides the company with an opportunity to scale its operations at the national level.
• The company's revenues burgeoned by about 500% in the 12 months that ended June 30, 2019, and it had already turned a profit in May 2019, just within 26 months of its establishment in February 2017, which is one of the fastest in the industry.
• The company has its proprietary technology platform 'CORscend' that allows it to offer integrated solutions to its clients and connect with manufacturers, specialty pharmacies, payers, providers, etc., through omnichannel communications.
• PharmaCord leverages industry-unique, risk-stratified algorithms, and highly flexible technology architecture to identify potential therapy gaps and implement the right intervention techniques for the patient. This structure provides a competitive edge to the company and adds on to its strength of service offerings.
• The company is independently owned and organically built, liberating it from dispensing conflicts and giving it the flexibility to implement various direct-to-patient dispensing programs, and creating new channels to reach the patients.

• PharmaCord has not disclosed the names of its pharmacy clients. However, the company caters to the biopharmaceutical and life science clients.

• In spite of the considerable growth since its foundation, PharmaCord lacks a good national presence at this juncture and caters to just pharmacies and manufacturers within the industry value chain. It lacks solutions for other key stakeholders in the industry, such as wholesalers, alternate care pharmacies, and health systems.
• The company lacks a robust pharmacy and technology partnership network when compared with other industry players. It needs to work on the same extensively. An EXL partnership is the only prominent one that it has signed since its inception and needs to work on the same to expand its operations. (Source#15)
• PharmaCord is independently owned and has grown organically, which means that it has not been able to attract any significant PE/VC funding thus far or undertake any M&A's for expansion. Given its robust growth and plans to grow to a 900-employee company within the next three years, the company's management needs to focus on inorganic growth as well, through M&A and external funding.

RESEARCH STRATEGY