SHARx Uses Sports Stories to Spotlight Drug Affordability

1) How did SHARx identify what consumers needed to understand about prescription affordability before they could recognize the value of its services? How did those insights shape the Rising Tides campaign?

SHARx balances serving the employer, who is the payer of medical services for its employees, and serving the member.

Businesses struggling to pay for high-cost maintenance and specialty medications often face a difficult choice: let the financial burden overwhelm their health plan, and even their company, or exclude these medications from coverage. Those working with SHARx have chosen to exclude them, but they do not want to leave their employees without a way to access these life-altering or lifesaving drugs. Company leaders are acutely aware of the prescription drug storm, but only a handful of employees are, because approximately 90% of drug spend is incurred by 10% of the insured population.

That's when it became clear to us that we also needed to help end users understand why their employer chose to change how these medications were accessed.

2)  What was the strategy behind choosing athletes and sports broadcasters as ambassadors for Rising Tides? How did you determine which personalities would be credible partners for SHARx's mission?

SHARx has a culture built upon serving our employer groups and their employees. I never intentionally sought out athletes or broadcasters to help amplify our messaging. These relationships all happened organically. I developed friendships with them and they learned more about what we do and fell in love with our mission. 

They often had personal history of seeing family or friends lack access to medications because of cost and they wanted to be a part of this endeavor. The people I've met and the relationships that have developed have been providential in helping build a brand that focuses on the members while also solving a major problem for employers.

3)  Why did SHARx choose sports and podcasting to introduce conversations about prescription affordability? How do you connect audiences' existing interests with a healthcare issue they may know very little about? 

The podcast is about shared bonds. Everyone has a story. That's why the podcast includes our athlete brand ambassadors, but also SHARx members, like the Hernandez family, who reached out to SHARx and have become friends of our company.

Medication access is extremely important, and we have a shared duty with the employers to help their employees get what they need since their medications are not covered by their plan. I wanted to give our employers, brokers, and members the opportunity to know who we are, and what the heart of the people connected to SHARx is like.

Each of our brand ambassadors have impeccable reputations and the courage to stand up for what they believe in — and their connection to SHARx should help our audience understand the values we have as an organization. If I were hiring an organization to help my employees source these critical medications, I would want to know them and that their organization was not built upon the fastest way to make a dollar. That is the heart behind the podcasts and the brand ambassador connections.

4)  How do you make a complicated subject like prescription pricing and pharmacy benefit managers accessible to sports audiences without oversimplifying the issue or overwhelming listeners?

I think the fact that prescription drugs are expensive is a fairly well-established fact at this point. Even those that do not pay much attention to the news accept that. The pharmaceutical industry spends hundreds of millions of dollars with targeted messaging to consumers, often in attempts to protect their profit-rich turf. The big three PBMs, Express Scripts, CVS, and Optum work on a 'spread pricing' model. They make significant dollars marking up the drugs.

Rising Tides is one of the ways we tried to bring clarity to the problem created by valueless middlemen, as well as giving members, employers, and Americans that identify with our brand ambassadors, a chance to hear that there is a company fighting for them to help bring down the costs of medications — which we do on average 79%. We want to motivate a generation who realize 'enough is enough' and that we are stronger fighting this fight together.

5) How does SHARx measure the success of Rising Tides beyond audience reach and engagement? What indicators help you determine whether the campaign is building understanding, generating inquiries or motivating people to take action?

The truth of the matter is I don't base our success on numbers and engagement. That doesn't mean I don't think it has relevance. I have had numerous folks in our industry say "you guys seem to just fly under the radar." I want us to do the right thing all the time — even when no one is looking.

Of course, we are a bunch of imperfect people that certainly make mistakes, but we always find a way to do right by our members and our clients. Success is first measured inwardly. If we can look in the mirror and feel confident that we are delivering a world-class supply chain solution, then I believe people will see that naturally.

We are playing the long game, and it is like the butterfly effect. It starts with the flapping of a butterfly's wings that eventually creates the ripple effect that impacts the prescription pricing problem for generations to come. Success is measured as much by SHARx continuing to show up, no matter what challenges come our way, as it is how many people stood up and cheered for us.