In this episode, our guest is Our guest, Sonia Oskouei, PharmD, BCMAS, DPLA, joined Cardinal Health in June 2020 to lead the company’s biosimilar strategy. She most recently served as the Vice President of Innovation and Digital Health at Premier Inc., where she led their national biosimilars strategy on behalf of 4,000 where she partnered with pharmaceutical manufacturers and providers to create resources, and education to help health system stakeholders evaluate and adopt biosimilars.
Sonia is an established thought leader with numerous publications and currently serves on the Board of Advisors for the Center for Biosimilars. She holds a Doctor of Pharmacy from Belmont University.

Main Talking Points:
Commonly asked questions: 
- What are biosimilars? 
- How they are different than generics
- How long they have been approved in the U.S. (and the rest of the world)
- Why are they important (eg cost savings)
- Explaining the interchangeability designation + why it matters
- Understanding state regulations and how that will affect pharmacist adoption
- Current market dynamics and what is on the FDA horizon for future biosimilars 

Host - Hillary Blackburn, PharmD, MBA
www.hillaryblackburn.com  
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hillary-blackburn-67a92421/ 
@talktoyourpharmacist for Instagram and Facebook
@HillBlackburn Twitter

Biosimilar Updates with National Expert, Sonia Oskouei

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Talk to Your Pharmacist is a podcast for pharmacists, student pharmacists, and others across the country to hear from industry leaders about their leadership stories and current healthcare topics.  The Talk to Your Pharmacist podcast was founded and hosted by pharmacist, Dr. Hillary Blackburn.

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In this episode, we hear about DR. JAMES CIMA’s journey to becoming a Doctor of Chiropractic started when he suffered a back injury at the age of 15 and spent years enduring back pain. When he graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science, someone suggested he visit a chiropractor. The combination of being amazed by the results and his desire to be in the health field, he decided to enroll at New York Chiropractic College, graduating with honors and a Doctor of Chiropractic degree. When he was in his last year of school, he saw a quote from Thomas Edison about a doctor who did not even exist. Mr. Edison stated that: “The Doctor Of The Future Will Give No Medication But Will Interest His Patients In Diet, Care Of The Human Frame, And The Cause And Prevention Of Disease.” Dr. Cima has spent forty years of his life devoted to Mr. Edison’s definition of health and wellness, creating a health and wellness program that lives up to Mr. Edison’s vision of the doctor of the future. Over the years, he has authored many books and articles and taught, educated and trained countless doctors. He has also completed extensive postgraduate education in: Nutrition Blood Chemistry Analysis, Exercise Physiology/Kinesiology, Neuroendocrinology, Craniopathy, Organ and Glandular Therapy, Neuromuscular Re-education, Extremity Technique, etc. He is in the process of developing a website designed to help people worldwide improve their health through nutrition. When he’s not busy researching, writing, lecturing or helping patients, he enjoys spending time with his wife Gloria, his family, including four children and ten grandchildren. As an avid golfer, Dr. Cima is also certified by the Titleist Performance Institute (TPI). With that training and the skills Dr. Cima states that he can improve the average golfer’s handicap by 5-10 strokes, simply by making their body more functional then creating the perfect swing for their body type. Dr. Cima is in practice with his son, Dr. James Paul Cima, and his daughter, Dr. Natalie DeJesse. Our 5000 square foot clinic along with ten other physicians (MD, DO, DC’s,) allows our patients to receive the best health care thru a Functional And Traditional Medical approach to health care. 
 Interview topics  • Using a blood test to determine what is the best diet for you and what supplements to take to improve your blood chemistry. • How to eat more, lose weight, and never diet again. • Let your presence command attention. How to achieve a beautiful, functional pain free body. • Turn stress into success. The mental emotional approach to health. • The true cause of physical pain, and how to erase it. • Cholesterol is the big hoax. Why heart disease is still the number 1 killer in the US today. 
 What constitutes excellent health? • What are the top three killers in our society today and how do you avoid the trap? • How do you live to be 150 years old and enjoy the process? Guest - James Cima Email: drcima@cimahealth.com Phone: 5618182972 Website: cimafunctionalmedicine.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjamescima/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrCimaDC 
 Host - Hillary Blackburn, PharmD, MBAwww.hillaryblackburn.com  https://www.linkedin.com/in/hillary-blackburn-67a92421/ @talktoyourpharmacist for Instagram and Facebook@HillBlackburn Twitter/X

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Designing the Doctor of the Future with Dr. James Cima

In this episode, we hear from two guests sharing how a new discount works at the pharmacy to help lower prescription prices.
Margie Hocker, Pharmacy Manager and Certified Pharmacy Technician at Kerrville Drug Co. has been at the pharmacy for almost 30 years. She started working there out of high school delivering prescriptions. When it became a requirement that pharmacy technicians had to be certified, she studied on her own and passed the certification. Margie is deeply dedicated to Kerrville Drug Co and keeping it, as well as other independent pharmacies’, doors open. 
 Miranda Rochol, SVP Provider Solutions at Prescryptive, leads the product strategy and sales team for Prescryptive’s mobile-first platform that empowers the healthcare consumer with the ability to take ownership of their prescription and provides AI pricing solutions for pharmacies. Rochol has worked in the healthcare and pharmacy industry for 20 years, holding leadership positions at Healthcare Data Solutions and Walgreens and serving as a board member at the American Society for Automation in Pharmacy. She received her Bachelors of Science in Health Care Administration and Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership from Concordia University - Wisconsin.  Interview topics:Prescryptive AI pricing for pharmacies provides a pricing engine driven by AI to help price prescriptions more competitively and provides real-time reports and analyticsThis helps independent pharmacies stay in business, decreasing pharmacy desertsA report by NCPA found that independent pharmacies averaged a 21% gross profit margin. By contracts, pharmacies with Prescryptive’s AI pricing saw nearly 54% gross profit margin Discount cards have high unsustainable fees that get charged back to the pharmacy so it’s hard for pharmacies to accept those but with AI, pharmacies can offer even better discounts Kerrville Drug Co., a small rural pharmacy was able to keep its doors open using AI pricing
Host - Hillary Blackburn, PharmD, MBAwww.hillaryblackburn.com  https://www.linkedin.com/in/hillary-blackburn-67a92421/ @talktoyourpharmacist for Instagram and Facebook@HillBlackburn Twitter/X

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Pharmacy Technicians Solving Prescription Price Concerns with Margie Hocker and Miranda Rochol

In this episode, our guest is Colin Banas, MD, MSHA, Chief Medical Officer, DrFirst. Colin Banas is an Internal Medicine Hospitalist and the former Chief Medical Information Officer for VCU Health System in Richmond, VA prior to stepping down after 15 fulfilling years to pursue consulting. He is proud to have testified before the U.S. Senate and the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) on the topic of Health IT and the Meaningful Use Program and is a former Health IT Fellow for the ONC. His interests center the role of big-data and analytics on patient outcomes and on novel forms of Clinical Decision Support, those that are outside of the realm of traditional rules and alerts, and include real-time dashboarding and intuitive usability designs. He also helped spearhead the VCU effort to participate in the Open Notes initiative, where patients have access to their clinical documentation in real time. In 2017 Dr. Banas was humbled to receive the HIMSS-AMDIS award for Physician Executive of the Year from his peers.   Pharmacy Interoperability: New Opportunities, Persistent Challenges Topic Summary: Interoperability has been a buzzword for the healthcare industry for many years, but until now, the conversation has centered around how to get doctors and healthcare systems more accurate, complete patient health data for improved outcomes. In 30 years of e-prescribing, the pharmacy’s role – at least where interoperable data sharing is concerned - has been viewed from the narrow lens of fulfillment. Today, there are encouraging signs of change, particularly coming out of the ONC’s annual meeting in December 2023.   Pharmacy Interoperability: Persistent Challenges…. -Technical, economic, structural, and psychological issues that must be addressed -Conflicting concerns/interests of the major players within the industry, including NACDS/NCPA, AMA, HHS, and others -Data standards/lack of available infrastructure and networks to advance and scale interoperability with pharmacists and pharmacies -Competition can impede pharmacy collaboration in data sharing   ….New Opportunities -Awareness is growing, more attention and focus from ONC, CMS, and others of the unique technical, economic, and business challenges pharmacies face – and acknowledgment of the critical role pharmacists play as equal members of the patient care team -AI in pharmacy workflow and patient-facing tech solutions are connecting the provider, patient, and pharmacy like never before   -Pharmacy vendors are looking for new and innovative ways to partner within innovative data-sharing business models 
Guest - Dr. Colin Banas 
 Host - Hillary Blackburn, PharmD, MBAwww.hillaryblackburn.com  https://www.linkedin.com/in/hillary-blackburn-67a92421/ @talktoyourpharmacist for Instagram and Facebook@HillBlackburn Twitter/X

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Pharmacy Interoperability: New Opportunities, Persistent Challenges with DrFirst’s CMO, Colin Banas

In this episode, our guest Rosalie Audoin is CEO & Founder of FuturEdge Group. Rosalie Audoin is a trusted executive coach and senior leadership consultant, focusing on developing leaders within cross-cultural teams. She has spoken on many stages to help companies unlock their global team's full potential. Rosalie also coaches on three executive leadership programmes at the London School of Economics and has worked with leaders at Gallagher, Sony, Santander, Harper Collins, and Unicef, amongst others. As the CEO of FuturEdge Group, Rosalie assembled an international team of highly skilled leadership development experts; together, they have helped countless companies achieve success, both domestically and across the globe. Rosalie gained her edge when she turned around a client's train-wreck team in 12 weeks. As a fluent speaker of four languages, English, French, Spanish, and Creole, Rosalie brings a unique understanding and perspective to her work, through cultural intelligence, allowing her to enable powerful leadership transformations. Rosalie is known for her deep commitment to developing leaders across cultures and creating inclusive workplaces that prioritise closing the gender gap and developing conscious leaders for a better future. 
 Interview topics  creating an inclusive workplace where teams can thrive, develop their leadership skills, and contribute their best work. Leading Beyond Borders: Navigating the Complexities of Leading Cross-Cultural Teams Shattering the Glass Ceiling: Understanding Why “Women in Leadership” Programs Don’t Work and How to Build More Effective Pathways to Success. The Women Leaders' Odyssey: Insights and Lessons Learned from Coaching over 1,000 Women Trailblazers". From Dysfunction to High-Performance: How We Turned Around a Train-Wreck Team in 12 Weeks Decoding Gen Z: Pioneering Strategies for Cultivating the Next Wave of Visionary LeadersGuest - Rosalie Audoin, CEO & Founder of FuturEdge Group. Host - Hillary Blackburn, PharmD, MBAwww.hillaryblackburn.com  https://www.linkedin.com/in/hillary-blackburn-67a92421/ @talktoyourpharmacist for Instagram and Facebook@HillBlackburn Twitter

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Leading Beyond Borders with Rosalie Audoin

In this episode, our guest, Julia Regan, co-founder and CEO of RxLightning, has over 15 years of experience delivering innovative healthcare solutions that disrupt the status quo and remove friction for patients, providers, payers, and pharmaceutical manufacturers. She has been at the forefront of some of the most transformational initiatives in the industry, including the development of real-time benefit check technologies and state-of-the-art tools that streamline medication onboarding. Julia has been recognized with numerous local, regional, and international awards, including being named a winner of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year in the East Central region. Since incorporating RxLightning, Julia has raised $20.5 million of capital from top-tier international healthcare investors including LRVHealth, McKesson Ventures, and Novartis Ventures. 
 
 RxLightning: RxLightning digitizes, automates, and streamlines the historically manual specialty medication onboarding process. With RxLightning, providers can quickly and easily complete patient enrollment for any specialty medication in any therapeutic area, helping reduce paperwork, streamline communication, and accelerate speed-to-therapy. Through the company’s MedAccess Ecosystem, patients, providers, specialty pharmacies, and pharmaceutical manufacturers have insights into each step of the patient onboarding journey. Learn more at rxlightning.com. 
Interview topics Raising capital in one of the toughest environments in recent historyRxLightning's mission, which is 'For The One' - and how we're impacting patient speed-to-therapyThe key challenges in specialty medication enrollment (paper forms, faxes, phone calls, no visibility, etc) - and how technology is supporting end-users in improving medication accessThe ways that pharmacies, providers, and pharma can work together to create a better medication access journeyWays in which the medication process can be more patient-centric (from the provider's office, to the payer/PBM interactions, to the pharmacy)Guest - Julia Regan https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliareganrxl/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/rxlightning https://rxlightning.com/ 
 
 Host - Hillary Blackburn, PharmD, MBAwww.hillaryblackburn.com  https://www.linkedin.com/in/hillary-blackburn-67a92421/ @talktoyourpharmacist for Instagram and Facebook@HillBlackburn Twitter

  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★


Biosimilar Updates with National Expert, Sonia Oskouei

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