PBMI Drug Benefit Conference to Showcase Payer Success Stories

SCOTTSDALE, AZ--(Marketwire - October 27, 2009) - Success stories from payers at the leading edge of drug benefit management will be a highlight of the 2010 Drug Benefit Conference sponsored by the Pharmacy Benefit Management Institute (PBMI). The conference, to be held Feb. 17-19 in Phoenix, will feature case studies from employers and health plans forging innovative solutions to help ensure a return on the drug benefit investment. These lessons from the field will be useful to benefits managers, pharmacy professionals and other drug benefit stakeholders.

"PBMI has a long-standing reputation for educating the industry on the best approaches for managing the drug benefit," says Dana H. Felthouse, MBA, president of PBMI. "In today's health care environment, the strategies for delivering an economically sustainable drug benefit are always evolving. It's important to hear how people on the front lines are dealing with these challenges and setting benchmarks for success."

Up to 12 hours of free continuing pharmacy education (CPE) credit will be available for designated PBMI conference sessions and a pre-conference workshop on medication adherence. Human resource professionals also can earn continuing education credit.

PBMI's conference agenda includes case studies on successful efforts to lower drug trend, improve medication adherence, collaborate across health care silos, sustain employee engagement in health and wellness, manage expensive oncology drugs, and control misuse of pain medications.

Payers sharing their success stories include: CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, Carpenters Health & Welfare Trust Fund of St. Louis, Caterpillar, Inc., Chatham Steel Corporation, City of Colorado Springs, Delta Air Lines, Essence Health Care, ICON Health & Fitness, Manatee County Government, Molina Healthcare of Michigan, Piedmont Community HealthCare Alliance, Procter & Gamble, TML Intergovernmental Employee Benefits Pool/Public Employee Benefits Alliance, and University of Michigan.

Agenda, Registration Online

A complete agenda and registration are at www.pbmi.com/conference.asp. Low-cost registration options are available for employers, employer coalitions, managed care organizations, unions, trusts and third-party administrators. There are discounts for all registrations received before Jan. 15, 2010.

The Pharmacy Benefit Management Institute provides research, continuing education, and Web resources that help health care benefit executives work effectively with pharmacy benefit managers to improve the design and management of drug benefit programs. Learn more at www.pbmi.com. To view this release and other PBMI news, please visit www.pbmi.com/news-releases.asp.

Contact Information: Contact: Maggie Bruce (480) 730-0814 Cell Phone: (602) 318-5003 Email: