Relentless Health Value

In this health care podcast, Ge Bai explains GoodRx’s business model and how PBMs and pharmacies fit in to that business model. Here’s the short version: GoodRx takes advantage of the dysfunction in the pharmacy supply chain. And while they help patients save money, their master plan only works because pharmacies would be charging cash pay patients too much in most circumstances. Why, you might ask? Well, one reason is the big PBMs have contracts with pharmacies that stipulate the PBM must get the best prices. So, any patient wandering in off the street without a PBM card is going to always pay more than the rate a PBM can get for its patients. So, a pharmacy’s list price will always be more than the PBM price. I’ll let my guest in this episode, Ge Bai, explain this better and get into a few details; but that’s kind of the general level set there. Ge Bai, PhD, CPA, is an associate professor of accounting at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School and associate professor of health policy and management at Johns Ho