2022 Leadership Insights Series

This new series focuses on providing transparency around long-term organizational strategy and its impact on customers, featuring Cencora leaders sharing updates and information on initiatives as well as the latest market government and industry insights and trends. In this initial session, Taylor updates efforts to support health system partners and the company’s success in being first-to-market with both an integrated specialty GPO and specialty PSAO. Matt discusses strategy and leveraging Cencora’s unique positioning between providers, patients, and manufacturers and its continuing investment in technology and distribution centers. Taylor discusses the acquisition of Triose and the importance of supply chain and logistics within the healthcare landscape and the growth of in-home care which calls for more courier solutions. Hilary addresses customers having lifesaving therapies and vaccines for lingering threats of COVID-19 variants, while Matt talks about Cencora’s response to the crisis in the Ukraine to help and support those in need.

Lamont shares his inspiring backstory of how growing up on the west side of Chicago in a gang and drug infested neighborhood without any African American owned businesses drove him toward a career helping support diverse business owners. He explains how Cencora’s supplier diversity program supports for-profit businesses at least 51% owned, operated, and controlled by minority, woman, veteran, L-G-B-T-Q, and or disabled individuals to bring inclusivity to the supply chain and help develop diverse businesses that could, in turn, grow with Cencora on a global scale while supporting underserved communities. Lamont discusses developing Cencora’s diverse supplier indicator for customers looking to enhance their own supplier diversity programs, and what health systems should consider in launching a diversity program from scratch. 

Over the past 10-20 years, diversification of the pharmaceutical supply chain via increased overseas manufacturing built pressure on a system that was exacerbated by COVID-19, causing disruptions in getting product to providers. David discusses how transportation and quality assurance bottlenecks led to market fragility, driving public and private sectors to build a supply chain control tower to track issues and find solutions. David says more dynamic allocation formulas can help address supply and demand issues, collecting and sharing data to predict and prevent shortages and map the supply chain all the way back to APIs and raw ingredients. Lauren and David dive into the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and its effects, and David explains how Cencora is rolling-out a model to take on some of the burden of risk and contractual challenges between manufacturers and payers, focusing on alleviating barriers to care and access to new products. 

Heather explains how pinch points in the pharmaceutical supply chain continue to be a challenge post-COVID due to air and ocean freight issues and raw material constraints within the manufacturing community. A rise in the cost of goods is impacting pharmacists, appearing as a line item on orders. Generic manufacturers have been doing heroic things, she says, moving a lot more product in air freight than usual while looking to bring products to market quickly in a professional, responsible way. Regarding supply chain efficiency she explains public-private partnerships are becoming the new normal, while efforts at incentivizing product availability are taking costs out of the marketplace, particularly with generic injectables and solids. With new therapies coming to market, data analytics can help fine tune the pharmaceutical supply chain and build trust, much like how Cencora is using data to help customers proactively deal with potential drug shortages before they happen.