Unlocking Hidden Value: How Returns Data Can Drive Smarter Hospital Pharmacy Decisions

In this episode of the Becker's Healthcare Podcast, Lukas Voss is joined by Rob DeWig, Vice President of Healthcare Sales at Inmar Intelligence, to discuss how health systems can leverage pharmaceutical returns data to reduce waste and optimize pharmacy operations. Rob shares practical examples of how returns data goes beyond expired medications, driving measurable cost savings and improving formulary management.

This episode is sponsored by Inmar Intelligence.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Everyone. This is Lucas Voss with Becker's Healthcare.
Thanks so much for tuning in to the
Becker's Healthcare podcast
series. Excited to have you. Today, exciting topic.
We're going to talk about unlocking hidden value
using pharmaceutical returns data for smarter hospital decision
making. Making. And I'm very excited to be
joined by Rob Dubig, vice president health care

(00:20):
sales at Inmar Intelligence
for today's discussion. Rob, thanks so much for
being here today. It's great to have you.
Yeah. Thank you, Lucas. I'm, excited to have
our conversation today.
Absolutely. Well, to get us started, I'll have
to turn the floor over to you for
introductions here. Could you introduce yourself and just
give us a little bit of an overview
of your work in health care? Absolutely.

(00:41):
As Lucas said, my name is Rob DeWake.
I am vice president of health care solutions.
I have been in health care
industry for eighteen years where I started in
reverse distribution, as a matter of fact,
and with a company called eXp Pharmaceutical Services.
We were acquired
about ten years ago by Inmar Intelligence,

(01:03):
and what that really has done is broaden
our
our reach outside of reverse distribution and with
more focus on compliance solutions, helping
health care institutions remain compliant with different regulations
as well as a workflow,
optimization.
So
I get the pleasure of working with a

(01:23):
awesome group of individuals that make up the
health care sales team here at Inmar
that cover,
all 50 states,
including
Guam and, Puerto Rico. So
That's awesome.
Well and, Rob, I'm not calling you old.
I promise. But almost two decades of experience
in this space, which is very exciting for

(01:45):
me because it brings a lot of great
talking points. You've seen a lot. You've you've
seen a ton.
There are a lot of supply chain issues
and, of course, rising pharmacy costs that continue
to rise over the last five, ten years,
and they continue to rise into 2025 and
beyond. Health systems under increasing pressure, of course,

(02:06):
to optimize inventory,
minimize waste.
And in this environment that you're seeing today
specifically,
can you explain the role of pharmaceutical
returns?
And specifically,
what opportunities
are you seeing there today for folks
to be able to use this for their
benefit? Absolutely. Well, first, let's address the the

(02:28):
old comment. Yes. I have become the old
guy,
which is why I keep my chin up
so you can't see the bald spot that
has accumulated over the last,
eighteen years. But, yes, the the industry
has evolved and changed quite a bit since
I first got involved.
I think originally, reverse distribution was just looked

(02:49):
at as a way of getting rid of
the junk out of their hospitals
and health systems.
And now with,
you know, especially since COVID as people,
have looked at their budgets a lot closer
and the the points that you brought up,
Lucas, around rising
costs, you know, what tariffs will have an

(03:09):
impact here as well.
People are really diving into the data a
lot more than we've seen
in the years past. And so
making different decisions,
better decisions,
and how do we not just reduce waste,
but
get more credit back
for items that we we have to keep
in stock

(03:30):
and and ensuring that we're bringing as much
dollars back into the facility
in in health system as we can.
Yeah. And I love that you mentioned it
used to just be a yeah. We just
have to get rid of it. Here you
go. Whatever maybe,
just to nobody really thought about it, and
now it's becoming an important part of the
the whole process in itself. And and beyond

(03:52):
just reducing
expired medications,
just as an example,
how does really looking at the data and
looking at returns data translate into then measurable
cost savings for organizations. And also and I
think this is really important, not just the
cost savings piece, but also more efficient operations.
And do you have some some examples there

(04:14):
for our listeners as well?
Absolutely. Yeah. So we,
you know,
originally, we just looked at what's returnable, what's
nonreturnable,
and try to keep the percentages
within,
what we see across the market since we
are,
the industry leader there. We have the the
most data to evaluate.
And and we've kinda gone another level deeper

(04:35):
in saying,
those items that aren't returnable,
why aren't they returnable? So there's different policies
with manufacturers
that need to be
adhered to, whether it be
how quickly they're returned.
So, you know, not every manufacturer wants to
give
money back
for,
expired medications.

(04:56):
So there's policies that need to be
adhered to. And
so diving into that and really evaluating how
we can help different health systems and increase
that
as well as,
taking a look at the items you're purchasing.
You know? There could be three different
pharmaceutical products.
Some one has a return policy, the other

(05:18):
two don't.
And so
helping health systems look at their formulary decisions
and what's on formulary
and making better decisions
due to return policies, not just accepting that
items are gonna expire. Some are gonna be
waste. Some are gonna be credible,
but maybe making decisions on the front end

(05:39):
to help them make those decisions.
You know, we we recently worked with,
very large health system, one of the top
10 health systems,
and they reduced waste by 7% by using
the data
that we provided. And it wasn't just by
necessarily
purchasing less, but purchasing better.

(05:59):
It's it's that optimization that's so interesting, I
think. Because like you said, it's it you're
not you're you're purchasing better.
Right. It's it's you're you're optimizing this, which
which leads me to the next piece of
this, which I think is also very important.
Now you have the data. That's great. You're
collecting it. You're you're trying to process it.
You have it.

(06:20):
How do we leverage this data? How do
we leverage and effectively leverage returns data in
some of the ways that you've discussed? You
mentioned that seven percent reduction, which I think
is amazing.
What other practical steps can they take to
ensure
sort of these optimal formulatory
management
in the years ahead? And and why is
it so important to to do this now?

(06:40):
Why is it so important to look at
this right now and say, okay. We need
to optimize this. We need to look at
the data, and we need to leverage everything
that we have in house already.
Yeah. And that is a great way to
put it, Lucas.
You know, for a long time, it's all
been about being reactive. Right? Here's the data
because it's already happened.
How can we use the data to be

(07:01):
proactive
on
how we're purchasing, what we're setting our par
levels
at, and ensuring that we're bringing the most
money back to our health system.
And I think one of the big things
that we've really tried to dig into now,
and I touched on it in my last
answer, was the formulary decisions.
And so taking a look at

(07:23):
even if you just started your top five
highest cost items outside of specialty
and and those type things
and evaluating those and saying, is there a
different manufacturer
that I could be purchasing for that has
a return policy?
And so we provide data and saying these
are the top 10 manufactured
items

(07:44):
that
are are nonreturnable
just because of the policy.
Is there a different option here? And so
we give action steps after,
after we do these business reviews
to just look at really hone in on
a few different manufacturers and a few different
products
rather than try to look at everything that

(08:04):
you're purchasing because,
you know, the visibility into
inventory
in a health system
pharmacy
is is tough because of the different systems
not talking to each other.
And so this is one way of identifying
those items
and making a different decision on the purchasing

(08:26):
in the front end because
if you're not proactive,
you know, you that product that you're purchasing
today could have a two year expiration date.
So you you're making decisions for down the
road
rather than just today.
Yeah. That long term
approach there too, I think. It's not just
the don't just think about the short term

(08:46):
effect for your organization.
The the long term piece to it is
is so important.
And and I know we you you touched
a tiny little bit on on on on
the terrorist piece earlier on our conversation. It's
certainly a a topic for another day because
there's so much to talk about there.
I just wanted to give you a chance
to is there anything else that you think

(09:07):
that that our audience would benefit of knowing?
What are some of the things that we
maybe didn't touch on that that might be
important for them to to know before we,
we close out our episode here?
Yeah. I think,
I mean, obviously, when we're recording this,
the the tariffs piece is a big one,
and and no one has those answers yet

(09:27):
today. But, I I think
finding ways to improve
your visibility into the inventory
and making better purchases upfront
And we're gonna set health systems up to
be financially stable over the next few years
as as, you know, the growth of specialty,
the increase in drug prices.
It's it's really around how can we better

(09:49):
manage our inventory ensuring that we're getting as
much money back
as as possible
from the returns process.
Because
as we kicked it off, this isn't just
getting rid of your waste and getting rid
of your garbage. This actually goes back into
the drug spend. And so can ensure that
products are on the shelf when they're needed

(10:10):
for those patients
as much as possible. Of course, we could
touch on drug shortages, but that's probably another
two hour podcast, and I don't think we
have time for that today, Lucas.
You you'll you'll just have to come back,
Rob. I think that's that's the the consensus
here. And and, again, your your two decades
of experience are paying off. We're we're not
again, we're not calling you old. This this

(10:31):
was a fantastic conversation. Thank you so much,
Rob.
Thank you, Lucas. Lucas, it's been my pleasure.
Absolutely.
We also want to thank our podcast sponsor,
MRRx Solutions. You can tune in to more
podcasts from Becker's Healthcare by visiting our podcast
page at beckershospitalreview.com.