Employers' satisfaction with PBMs rooted in transparency

There is a strong correlation between pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) transparency and employer satisfaction, according to the 2007 Pharmacy Benefit Manager Customer Satisfaction Report released recently by the Pharmacy Benefit Management Institute (PBMI). The group's annual PBM Customer Satisfaction Survey asked more than 440 U.S. employers to rate their PBMs on three overall satisfaction measures and 15 individual dimensions of service. The research shows that employers who are "extremely satisfied" with the financial transparency of their PBM relationship gave their PBMs an average overall service and performance rating of 8.8 on a 10-point scale, with 10 being the highest rating. By comparison, employers who are "somewhat satisfied" with financial transparency gave their PBMs an average performance rating of 7.9, while those that are "somewhat dissatisfied" or "extremely dissatisfied" rated their PBM's performance at 7.5 and 5.9 respectively. "This research supports the increasing levels of collaboration PBMI sees among payers, PBMs, and prescribers to provide medically appropriate and cost-effective drug therapy to Americans," said Dana H. Felthouse, MBA, president of PBMI. The report is available for purchase at