What if, instead of trying to find an existing pharmacy service that meets all your needs, you just decide to build one instead? That’s the story of EmsanaRx, a health tech platform designed to improve health care outcomes by bringing transparency, integrity and trust to pharmacy benefit management for doctors, pharmacists and patients.
At our March lunch, Greg Baker, CEO of EmsanaRx, discussed how the early-stage company built a better solution by identifying bad business practices across the health care industry. He shared how the company spun out of EmsanaHealth and the Purchaser Business Group on Health (PBGH), and how he talked his wife, who is also a pharmacist, into quitting her job and joining him.
Greg touched on the rising costs of health care, and the lack of transparency about drug costs vs. efficacy. He shared how EmsanaRx was built to “do right by the American public” rather than make money for shareholders, which is why company leaders decided to make it a Public Benefit Corporation, and subsequently became the first Canopy-certified company.
Greg talked about the company’s other key differentiators and unique partnerships, including an agreement with The Cleveland Clinic to develop formulary design and clinical guidelines using real-world, medical-based expertise.
Greg previously served as Pharmacy Lead for Premise Health, where he maintained the highest levels of operational efficiency, clinical excellence and customer service to provide value within the greater pharmacy health care ecosystem. Drawing from this experience, as well as time spent as Pharmacy Supervisor for Walgreens and Senior Pharmacy Consultant for Blue & Co., Greg listens to scores of employers across all industries to customize the highest quality clinical care solutions with the lowest costs for EmsanaRx customers.
Earlier in his career, Greg led a pharmacy organization to win a 2018 PBMI award for innovation and the 2019 APhA Pinnacle Award. He was also the first community pharmacist appointed by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Secretary to the National Advisory Council for the Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality, where he further advanced the role of pharmacy to improve public health outcomes.
