Susan A. Cantrell Outlines Concerns and Opportunities for Managed Care

Susan A. Cantrell, RPh, CAE, CEO of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP), discusses the biggest concerns and opportunities facing members of AMCP during this time of legislative and regulatory uncertainty and rising costs in healthcare.

Transcript

What are the biggest concerns facing AMCP members today?

I think the biggest concerns facing our members today are not so different than they've been in the past. However, we're in this time of tremendous change and our members have much to keep up with. They're very focused on providing safe, effective, and affordable medications to the patients that they serve, and that's a big task. In today's environment, we have increasing innovation that comes at very high prices.

Our members are at the forefront of managing that. So making sure that they are able to do their jobs better and provide care for the patients, manage the pharmacy benefit in such a way that medications are affordable, all those things are forefront in their minds now.

In addition, the changing legislative and regulatory environment, the uncertainty around healthcare reform certainly is something that our members are keeping their fingers on the pulse of. As are we as the organization that represents their interests.

What are the biggest opportunities they see looking forward that make them optimistic?

I think one of the biggest opportunities that our members are likely to see right now is that they have a unique expertise in managing the pharmacy benefit that in today's environment is increasingly more important.

So their skills, their abilities, their level of expertise is more important now than it's ever been. And I hope our members see that as an opportunity. I think they do. They realize that they can contribute significantly to some of the challenges facing our healthcare system today, and being able to use that expertise is what they're all about.