How Liberty Drug Store Turned Razor-Thin Margins Into Real Savings

00:00:00:00 – 00:00:19:04

Nick Secrest

My name is Nick Secrest. I’m the Vice President of Member Performance at IPC, and I have with us Matt Blalock, the owner of Liberty Pharmacy in Liberty, Mississippi. I’m just going to talk to Matt about how he runs his pharmacy, things that are working well, and how he’s using the IPC Warehouse to be more profitable. So, thanks, Matt, for being here.

00:00:19:04 – 00:00:20:04

Nick Secrest

Appreciate it.

00:00:20:07 – 00:00:22:00

Matt Blalock

Absolutely. Thanks for having me.

00:00:22:02 – 00:00:31:06

Nick Secrest

So, why don’t we get started? Matt, just give everybody some background on yourself, the pharmacy, how you got into the business, and how things have been operating for what sounds like a long time.

00:00:31:06 – 00:00:54:11

Matt Blalock

Yeah, actually, this pharmacy’s been here since 1903. I started in the business probably my junior year of high school. I started coming up here and teaching a little bit. That was when the owner before my dad had it. So, this was like ’98, ’99, doing a little pharmacy tech work during the summer and in between classes at school.

00:00:54:12 – 00:01:16:06

Matt Blalock

So, that’s where I was first introduced. And then, in 2000, my dad bought the store, and he had it up until about three years ago. I bought it from him in 2022. So, it’s been in the family for about 25 years, and before that, he had worked here a number of years, and we bought it from him.

00:01:16:07 – 00:01:35:15

Matt Blalock

We’re kind of a hub of the community, I guess you would say. We’ve got a little coffee shop, a snack area where a lot of the older folks used to come pre-COVID. After that, it kind of fell off, but they would come and drink coffee, discuss the world’s problems, and give their solutions.

00:01:35:15 – 00:01:50:11

Matt Blalock

And so, it’s always been a place where the community can gather, come and get information, get their medicine filled, see a friendly face, interact with the community, and help take care of them as well.

00:01:50:11 – 00:02:10:06

Nick Secrest

Awesome. That’s awesome. You’re like your prototypical independent pharmacy, the way it should be and ought to be. That’s what you guys basically are. That’s awesome. Oh, yeah. So, tell us a little about your business. Obviously, you guys have been in business a long time. How many scripts a day are you doing? You know, what kinds of services are you offering?

00:02:10:06 – 00:02:11:07

Nick Secrest

Those kinds of things.

00:02:11:07 – 00:02:41:04

Matt Blalock

We do all the typical stuff. Most recently, we probably average around 250 prescriptions a day. Actually, last week it ticked up a bit. We were averaging over 300 for about a week there. Not sure what that was about, but hey, we’ll take it. Yeah. So, we stay pretty busy. We offer the normal things. You know, we fill medicine, we counsel patients, and we try to do a little bit of MTM stuff like that.

00:02:41:08 – 00:03:02:02

Matt Blalock

Haven’t jumped into vaccinations yet, so that’s another opportunity that we have and might look into. But basically, your standard pharmacy experience, maybe with a little more personal touch than some of the big-box stores, is what you’re going to get when you come to Liberty Drugstore. When you call us, a robot doesn’t pick up the phone.

00:03:02:02 – 00:03:09:03

Matt Blalock

You’re going to talk to a human right off the bat, and we take it from there and meet your needs as best we can.

00:03:09:03 – 00:03:12:04

Nick Secrest

That’s awesome. How many employees do you guys roughly have?

00:03:12:05 – 00:03:38:01

Matt Blalock

On a typical day, we usually have between six and eight employees working here. So, not a huge group, but definitely a well-oiled machine. We can get them in and get them out and do it with a smile. They’re a good bunch. We’ve got a couple of techs working here and then some clerks, two or three clerks, and we all work well together and enjoy spending time together up here while we serve Liberty, Mississippi.

00:03:38:01 – 00:03:56:14

Nick Secrest

I think you’ve known one of our RDs, Lisa Hawkins, for quite a few years. And I think, at least when I got here, we definitely engaged with you around utilizing some of the tools and resources that IPC has to offer. Why don’t you tell us about the things that IPC’s been able to do to help you?

00:03:57:01 – 00:04:01:14

Nick Secrest

At least in the last 12 months or so, I think those have been the most consequential things, it sounds like.

00:04:01:14 – 00:04:02:06

Matt Blalock

So, yeah.

00:04:02:06 – 00:04:42:07

Matt Blalock

You guys have been instrumental in making acquaintances through some of the relationships you have, especially with Pharmacy Marketplace and Nimble. I know we got on Nimble through you guys, and those are two platforms that have worked really well for us. Pharmacy Marketplace is a way that you can manage costs to keep them down and find the best deals all in one place, where you can pick up those few extra dollars in savings. It allows us to access IPC’s secondary wholesaler through them, cost-compare, and do that.

00:04:42:07 – 00:05:17:01

Matt Blalock

And they also have a tool that recently came online with PBM appeals, where you can appeal underwater claims. It’s been a game changer, at least for me. As someone who had never actually filed an appeal with a PBM, being able to do it has been helpful. I would say you can probably file an appeal now using their tool in less than five minutes, from pulling it up and generating an invoice for the appeal to submitting that claim to the PBM.

00:05:17:02 – 00:05:47:07

Matt Blalock

It’s been really, really lucrative. It’s helped us reclaim a lot of lost money, which, as you know, in our situation, every dollar counts. Margins are razor-thin now, so it’s been a game changer. And then with Nimble, their messaging platform allows us to interact with our customers—those who are comfortable with text messaging and notifications—and helps them know when to pick their medicines up, when they’re ready, and when they need a refill.

00:05:47:07 – 00:05:58:02

Matt Blalock

It’s kind of helped boost our compliance and stuff like that. So, those are two assets that we’ve gained just from having our relationship with IPC. That’s been wonderful for us.

00:05:58:03 – 00:06:05:08

Matt Blalock

In the last 90 days, it says the total amount that we’ve recovered is $4,600.

00:06:05:09 – 00:06:06:08

Nick Secrest

Geez.

00:06:06:09 – 00:06:32:04

Matt Blalock

So, like I said, I probably haven’t spent more than two or three hours total submitting appeals and things like that over that 90-day period. So, it’s a highly effective, very user-friendly application that can really make a difference in dollars going back to your bottom line.

00:06:32:04 – 00:06:37:08

Nick Secrest

It wasn’t like you had a whole bunch right away. It’s like, consistently, you’re putting appeals in.

00:06:37:10 – 00:07:00:01

Matt Blalock

Yeah, like every day. It actually has a filter where you can filter out what appeals are coming up to the deadline they give you, whether it’s 30 days, 60 days, or whatever it is in your state. It’ll populate those for you, tell you what you need to do, and take you to the portal for that PBM’s appeals site.

00:07:00:01 – 00:07:16:15

Matt Blalock

And you just basically plug and play and submit those claims as they pop up. You know, I might do two or three a day, or I may not do any for a week, but you can always pull it up and see what claims are coming due and track the status of the ones you’ve submitted and stuff like that.

00:07:16:15 – 00:07:19:11

Matt Blalock

So, it’s very effective.

00:07:19:12 – 00:07:36:11

Nick Secrest

The purpose of those programs is that. So, on the Pharmacy Marketplace front, I mean, how easy was that to implement for the staff and everything? I think sometimes when we talk to people about it, a new thing is always kind of scary for owners. But tell me a little bit more about that.

00:07:36:12 – 00:07:37:07

Matt Blalock

Kind of hesitant.

00:07:37:09 – 00:08:01:03

Matt Blalock

It’s been almost seamless. You know, you log in at the start of the day, and as you’re going through the day, prescriptions or new medicines come in. It’s easy to just pull Pharmacy Marketplace up and have it logged in. You type in the NDC number or whatever it is you need to search, and it gives you a cost comparison across your main wholesaler and any other secondaries that you have.

00:08:01:04 – 00:08:24:01

Matt Blalock

And you build an order in there very seamlessly. Then, at the end of the day, when you’re ready to submit the order, it’s basically one click, and you’re off to the races. So, its ease of use is 10 out of 10. You know, it’s been great. And the cost savings we’re seeing, which help us increase our margins, have been phenomenal as well.

00:08:24:03 – 00:08:44:09

Nick Secrest

I think the best part about that platform is that you really can leverage the best of both worlds, right? I think we did a very good job negotiating a great deal with McKesson, and they’re obviously a great partner of ours, to maximize the value on that side. But that contract, just like any other, gives you some latitude to, you know, maybe buy a little bit outside where you can.

00:08:44:09 – 00:08:48:

Nick Secrest

And I think that sweet spot is what you’re basically optimizing.

00:08:48:05 – 00:09:03:11

Matt Blalock

There are tools where you can see where you’re at as far as compliance with your contract and meeting that GCR and GPR. All that makes it very easy to know what you can spend and where you can spend it. Like you said, you’re squeezing every last cent out of every dollar you can.

00:09:03:13 – 00:09:19:08

Nick Secrest

The PBM appeal tool is a newer thing I know they offer, and your story is very similar to those of the folks I know who are using it out there. How easy was that to do out of the gate? I think you said you’d never even done an appeal before, which is true of most owners, to be honest.

00:09:19:09 – 00:09:20:01

Matt Blalock

Right. Yeah.

00:09:20:03 – 00:09:38:08

Matt Blalock

I never—I mean, I’d heard about doing appeals, but no one ever explained to me how to do it. So, I had just never done it. Then they called me about this new tool from Pharmacy Marketplace, and I did maybe a 30-minute training with a guy from over there who handles all of theirs.

00:09:38:08 – 00:10:04:05

Matt Blalock

And I submitted my first appeal that day, and then, within 30 minutes, I’d probably done ten more. And ever since then, I don’t know exactly how many we’ve submitted. Let me see if I can see the numbers here. But it’s been probably close to 100 claims in three months, and I haven’t spent more than 30 minutes at a time doing it on any one day.

00:10:04:05 – 00:10:19:07

Matt Blalock

So, I mean, it’s very user-friendly. At first, yeah, it seems a little intimidating, but they walk you through it, and once you’ve done it once, it’s like you can do it with your eyes closed. It’s pretty amazing.

00:10:19:08 – 00:10:35:01

Nick Secrest

And the Nimble thing—I think as more pharmacies are trying to figure out where to play in the digital space, you know, everybody’s trying to figure out how to interact better and in a more frictionless way with their patient base. I think Nimble seems to be a great product, from what everybody’s saying.

00:10:35:03 – 00:10:55:02

Matt Blalock

It really is. They’re not overly intrusive. You know, some people like a lot of interaction. They love getting the text messages. Some people don’t. I find it to be very customizable. You can go in and tweak things per patient based on their preferences. So, they come in and say, “Hey, I’m getting too many messages.”

00:10:55:02 – 00:11:15:10

Matt Blalock

Can you talk about that? And you can scale it back. Or if they say, “Hey, I’d love to see this,” you know, it’s got all of it in there so you can meet the needs of individuals as they come in and express what’s going on with their situation. So, I find it to be very useful in communicating with and reaching customers in a new way.

00:11:15:11 – 00:11:39:07

Matt Blalock

You know, a lot of the older customers say, “I don’t do any of that. I don’t know.” And I tell them, “That’s fine. That’s not a problem at all. We can meet your needs in whatever way you want us to,” whether that’s no messages or just a few messages. So, I like that it gives you the flexibility to meet them where they’re at and meet their needs in a way that they’re happy with.

00:11:39:09 – 00:11:58:14

Nick Secrest

That’s all about meeting the patient where they’re at. That’s how it goes. So, what else can you say about IPC and how we’ve been able to help you? I think the pricing from our warehouse is obviously pretty aggressive. I would selfishly say that, but you’re definitely seeing that, I think.

00:11:58:15 – 00:12:03:00

Nick Secrest

Right. And how you’re interacting with the platforms and things you’re using.

00:12:03:02 – 00:12:29:03

Matt Blalock

Yeah. You guys help us get good deals. Our contracts with you guys, what we get from McKesson, rebates, and all those things that you bring to the table allow us to stay in business, honestly. You know, without that stuff, I don’t know how an independent pharmacy would make it out there today without leveraging the tools that you bring to the table to stay in business.

00:12:29:04 – 00:13:04:09

Matt Blalock

Like I said, you guys help us with contracting. You help us with these other partnerships that we’ve formed with Pharmacy Marketplace and Nimble, and there are many, many others. And then, like I said, your secondary wholesaler allows us the flexibility to spend outside of our main contracted supplier. It helps us, like you said, meet our customers where we need to and give them the things that they could get at a big-box store, but with a little more personal touch right here at home, with a face that they know.

00:13:04:11 – 00:13:10:12

Matt Blalock

So, I mean, obviously, it keeps us, keeps us, keeps us going.

00:13:10:13 – 00:13:17:12

Nick Secrest

That’s right, that’s right. I think one of the coolest things about IPC, and a big reason why I’m here, is that you guys own us, right?

00:13:17:13 – 00:13:33:12

Nick Secrest

Right. All the operational things, all the things we bring to the table—it’s yours. And you’re just taking advantage of it. You know, all the profits that we make, we pass back on to the member.

00:13:33:12 – 00:13:39:15

Nick Secrest

And, you know, it’s a little bit different from most groups out there in the pharmacy space, that’s for sure.

00:13:39:15 – 00:13:40:11

Matt Blalock

So, yeah.

00:13:40:11 – 00:13:52:13

Matt Blalock

You’re built, like you said—you’re working with us. We’re working with you guys. We build equity with you. We see returns on that. So, I mean, on every front, you know, it’s a win-win relationship, I feel, for both sides of the table.

00:13:52:15 – 00:13:53:05

Nick Secrest

Yep.

00:00:00:00 – 00:00:19:04

Nick Secrest

My name is Nick Secrest. I’m the Vice President of Member Performance at IPC, and I have with us Matt Blalock, the owner of Liberty Pharmacy in Liberty, Mississippi. I’m just going to talk to Matt about how he runs his pharmacy, things that are working well, and how he’s using the IPC Warehouse to be more profitable. So, thanks, Matt, for being here.

00:00:19:04 – 00:00:20:04

Nick Secrest

Appreciate it.

00:00:20:07 – 00:00:22:00

Matt Blalock

Absolutely. Thanks for having me.

00:00:22:02 – 00:00:31:06

Nick Secrest

So, why don’t we get started? Matt, just give everybody some background on yourself, the pharmacy, how you got into the business, and how things have been operating for what sounds like a long time.

00:00:31:06 – 00:00:54:11

Matt Blalock

Yeah, actually, this pharmacy’s been here since 1903. I started in the business probably my junior year of high school. I started coming up here and teaching a little bit. That was when the owner before my dad had it. So, this was like ’98, ’99, doing a little pharmacy tech work during the summer and in between classes at school.

00:00:54:12 – 00:01:16:06

Matt Blalock

So, that’s where I was first introduced. And then, in 2000, my dad bought the store, and he had it up until about three years ago. I bought it from him in 2022. So, it’s been in the family for about 25 years, and before that, he had worked here a number of years, and we bought it from him.

00:01:16:07 – 00:01:35:15

Matt Blalock

We’re kind of a hub of the community, I guess you would say. We’ve got a little coffee shop, a snack area where a lot of the older folks used to come pre-COVID. After that, it kind of fell off, but they would come and drink coffee, discuss the world’s problems, and give their solutions.

00:01:35:15 – 00:01:50:11

Matt Blalock

And so, it’s always been a place where the community can gather, come and get information, get their medicine filled, see a friendly face, interact with the community, and help take care of them as well.

00:01:50:11 – 00:02:10:06

Nick Secrest

Awesome. That’s awesome. You’re like your prototypical independent pharmacy, the way it should be and ought to be. That’s what you guys basically are. That’s awesome. Oh, yeah. So, tell us a little about your business. Obviously, you guys have been in business a long time. How many scripts a day are you doing? You know, what kinds of services are you offering?

00:02:10:06 – 00:02:11:07

Nick Secrest

Those kinds of things.

00:02:11:07 – 00:02:41:04

Matt Blalock

We do all the typical stuff. Most recently, we probably average around 250 prescriptions a day. Actually, last week it ticked up a bit. We were averaging over 300 for about a week there. Not sure what that was about, but hey, we’ll take it. Yeah. So, we stay pretty busy. We offer the normal things. You know, we fill medicine, we counsel patients, and we try to do a little bit of MTM stuff like that.

00:02:41:08 – 00:03:02:02

Matt Blalock

Haven’t jumped into vaccinations yet, so that’s another opportunity that we have and might look into. But basically, your standard pharmacy experience, maybe with a little more personal touch than some of the big-box stores, is what you’re going to get when you come to Liberty Drugstore. When you call us, a robot doesn’t pick up the phone.

00:03:02:02 – 00:03:09:03

Matt Blalock

You’re going to talk to a human right off the bat, and we take it from there and meet your needs as best we can.

00:03:09:03 – 00:03:12:04

Nick Secrest

That’s awesome. How many employees do you guys roughly have?

00:03:12:05 – 00:03:38:01

Matt Blalock

On a typical day, we usually have between six and eight employees working here. So, not a huge group, but definitely a well-oiled machine. We can get them in and get them out and do it with a smile. They’re a good bunch. We’ve got a couple of techs working here and then some clerks, two or three clerks, and we all work well together and enjoy spending time together up here while we serve Liberty, Mississippi.

00:03:38:01 – 00:03:56:14

Nick Secrest

I think you’ve known one of our RDs, Lisa Hawkins, for quite a few years. And I think, at least when I got here, we definitely engaged with you around utilizing some of the tools and resources that IPC has to offer. Why don’t you tell us about the things that IPC’s been able to do to help you?

00:03:57:01 – 00:04:01:14

Nick Secrest

At least in the last 12 months or so, I think those have been the most consequential things, it sounds like.

00:04:01:14 – 00:04:02:06

Matt Blalock

So, yeah.

00:04:02:06 – 00:04:42:07

Matt Blalock

You guys have been instrumental in making acquaintances through some of the relationships you have, especially with Pharmacy Marketplace and Nimble. I know we got on Nimble through you guys, and those are two platforms that have worked really well for us. Pharmacy Marketplace is a way that you can manage costs to keep them down and find the best deals all in one place, where you can pick up those few extra dollars in savings. It allows us to access IPC’s secondary wholesaler through them, cost-compare, and do that.

00:04:42:07 – 00:05:17:01

Matt Blalock

And they also have a tool that recently came online with PBM appeals, where you can appeal underwater claims. It’s been a game changer, at least for me. As someone who had never actually filed an appeal with a PBM, being able to do it has been helpful. I would say you can probably file an appeal now using their tool in less than five minutes, from pulling it up and generating an invoice for the appeal to submitting that claim to the PBM.

00:05:17:02 – 00:05:47:07

Matt Blalock

It’s been really, really lucrative. It’s helped us reclaim a lot of lost money, which, as you know, in our situation, every dollar counts. Margins are razor-thin now, so it’s been a game changer. And then with Nimble, their messaging platform allows us to interact with our customers—those who are comfortable with text messaging and notifications—and helps them know when to pick their medicines up, when they’re ready, and when they need a refill.

00:05:47:07 – 00:05:58:02

Matt Blalock

It’s kind of helped boost our compliance and stuff like that. So, those are two assets that we’ve gained just from having our relationship with IPC. That’s been wonderful for us.

00:05:58:03 – 00:06:05:08

Matt Blalock

In the last 90 days, it says the total amount that we’ve recovered is $4,600.

00:06:05:09 – 00:06:06:08

Nick Secrest

Geez.

00:06:06:09 – 00:06:32:04

Matt Blalock

So, like I said, I probably haven’t spent more than two or three hours total submitting appeals and things like that over that 90-day period. So, it’s a highly effective, very user-friendly application that can really make a difference in dollars going back to your bottom line.

00:06:32:04 – 00:06:37:08

Nick Secrest

It wasn’t like you had a whole bunch right away. It’s like, consistently, you’re putting appeals in.

00:06:37:10 – 00:07:00:01

Matt Blalock

Yeah, like every day. It actually has a filter where you can filter out what appeals are coming up to the deadline they give you, whether it’s 30 days, 60 days, or whatever it is in your state. It’ll populate those for you, tell you what you need to do, and take you to the portal for that PBM’s appeals site.

00:07:00:01 – 00:07:16:15

Matt Blalock

And you just basically plug and play and submit those claims as they pop up. You know, I might do two or three a day, or I may not do any for a week, but you can always pull it up and see what claims are coming due and track the status of the ones you’ve submitted and stuff like that.

00:07:16:15 – 00:07:19:11

Matt Blalock

So, it’s very effective.

00:07:19:12 – 00:07:36:11

Nick Secrest

The purpose of those programs is that. So, on the Pharmacy Marketplace front, I mean, how easy was that to implement for the staff and everything? I think sometimes when we talk to people about it, a new thing is always kind of scary for owners. But tell me a little bit more about that.

00:07:36:12 – 00:07:37:07

Matt Blalock

Kind of hesitant.

00:07:37:09 – 00:08:01:03

Matt Blalock

It’s been almost seamless. You know, you log in at the start of the day, and as you’re going through the day, prescriptions or new medicines come in. It’s easy to just pull Pharmacy Marketplace up and have it logged in. You type in the NDC number or whatever it is you need to search, and it gives you a cost comparison across your main wholesaler and any other secondaries that you have.

00:08:01:04 – 00:08:24:01

Matt Blalock

And you build an order in there very seamlessly. Then, at the end of the day, when you’re ready to submit the order, it’s basically one click, and you’re off to the races. So, its ease of use is 10 out of 10. You know, it’s been great. And the cost savings we’re seeing, which help us increase our margins, have been phenomenal as well.

00:08:24:03 – 00:08:44:09

Nick Secrest

I think the best part about that platform is that you really can leverage the best of both worlds, right? I think we did a very good job negotiating a great deal with McKesson, and they’re obviously a great partner of ours, to maximize the value on that side. But that contract, just like any other, gives you some latitude to, you know, maybe buy a little bit outside where you can.

00:08:44:09 – 00:08:48:

Nick Secrest

And I think that sweet spot is what you’re basically optimizing.

00:08:48:05 – 00:09:03:11

Matt Blalock

There are tools where you can see where you’re at as far as compliance with your contract and meeting that GCR and GPR. All that makes it very easy to know what you can spend and where you can spend it. Like you said, you’re squeezing every last cent out of every dollar you can.

00:09:03:13 – 00:09:19:08

Nick Secrest

The PBM appeal tool is a newer thing I know they offer, and your story is very similar to those of the folks I know who are using it out there. How easy was that to do out of the gate? I think you said you’d never even done an appeal before, which is true of most owners, to be honest.

00:09:19:09 – 00:09:20:01

Matt Blalock

Right. Yeah.

00:09:20:03 – 00:09:38:08

Matt Blalock

I never—I mean, I’d heard about doing appeals, but no one ever explained to me how to do it. So, I had just never done it. Then they called me about this new tool from Pharmacy Marketplace, and I did maybe a 30-minute training with a guy from over there who handles all of theirs.

00:09:38:08 – 00:10:04:05

Matt Blalock

And I submitted my first appeal that day, and then, within 30 minutes, I’d probably done ten more. And ever since then, I don’t know exactly how many we’ve submitted. Let me see if I can see the numbers here. But it’s been probably close to 100 claims in three months, and I haven’t spent more than 30 minutes at a time doing it on any one day.

00:10:04:05 – 00:10:19:07

Matt Blalock

So, I mean, it’s very user-friendly. At first, yeah, it seems a little intimidating, but they walk you through it, and once you’ve done it once, it’s like you can do it with your eyes closed. It’s pretty amazing.

00:10:19:08 – 00:10:35:01

Nick Secrest

And the Nimble thing—I think as more pharmacies are trying to figure out where to play in the digital space, you know, everybody’s trying to figure out how to interact better and in a more frictionless way with their patient base. I think Nimble seems to be a great product, from what everybody’s saying.

00:10:35:03 – 00:10:55:02

Matt Blalock

It really is. They’re not overly intrusive. You know, some people like a lot of interaction. They love getting the text messages. Some people don’t. I find it to be very customizable. You can go in and tweak things per patient based on their preferences. So, they come in and say, “Hey, I’m getting too many messages.”

00:10:55:02 – 00:11:15:10

Matt Blalock

Can you talk about that? And you can scale it back. Or if they say, “Hey, I’d love to see this,” you know, it’s got all of it in there so you can meet the needs of individuals as they come in and express what’s going on with their situation. So, I find it to be very useful in communicating with and reaching customers in a new way.

00:11:15:11 – 00:11:39:07

Matt Blalock

You know, a lot of the older customers say, “I don’t do any of that. I don’t know.” And I tell them, “That’s fine. That’s not a problem at all. We can meet your needs in whatever way you want us to,” whether that’s no messages or just a few messages. So, I like that it gives you the flexibility to meet them where they’re at and meet their needs in a way that they’re happy with.

00:11:39:09 – 00:11:58:14

Nick Secrest

That’s all about meeting the patient where they’re at. That’s how it goes. So, what else can you say about IPC and how we’ve been able to help you? I think the pricing from our warehouse is obviously pretty aggressive. I would selfishly say that, but you’re definitely seeing that, I think.

00:11:58:15 – 00:12:03:00

Nick Secrest

Right. And how you’re interacting with the platforms and things you’re using.

00:12:03:02 – 00:12:29:03

Matt Blalock

Yeah. You guys help us get good deals. Our contracts with you guys, what we get from McKesson, rebates, and all those things that you bring to the table allow us to stay in business, honestly. You know, without that stuff, I don’t know how an independent pharmacy would make it out there today without leveraging the tools that you bring to the table to stay in business.

00:12:29:04 – 00:13:04:09

Matt Blalock

Like I said, you guys help us with contracting. You help us with these other partnerships that we’ve formed with Pharmacy Marketplace and Nimble, and there are many, many others. And then, like I said, your secondary wholesaler allows us the flexibility to spend outside of our main contracted supplier. It helps us, like you said, meet our customers where we need to and give them the things that they could get at a big-box store, but with a little more personal touch right here at home, with a face that they know.

00:13:04:11 – 00:13:10:12

Matt Blalock

So, I mean, obviously, it keeps us, keeps us, keeps us going.

00:13:10:13 – 00:13:17:12

Nick Secrest

That’s right, that’s right. I think one of the coolest things about IPC, and a big reason why I’m here, is that you guys own us, right?

00:13:17:13 – 00:13:33:12

Nick Secrest

Right. All the operational things, all the things we bring to the table—it’s yours. And you’re just taking advantage of it. You know, all the profits that we make, we pass back on to the member.

00:13:33:12 – 00:13:39:15

Nick Secrest

And, you know, it’s a little bit different from most groups out there in the pharmacy space, that’s for sure.

00:13:39:15 – 00:13:40:11

Matt Blalock

So, yeah.

00:13:40:11 – 00:13:52:13

Matt Blalock

You’re built, like you said—you’re working with us. We’re working with you guys. We build equity with you. We see returns on that. So, I mean, on every front, you know, it’s a win-win relationship, I feel, for both sides of the table.

00:13:52:15 – 00:13:53:05

Nick Secrest

Yep.