Despite an increase in utilization of medications to treat mental health disorders between 2020 and 2021, EmpiRx Health’s drug spend for commercial payers actually decreased. Overall, behavioral health categories drove an increase of 9.4% in pharmacy claims year-over-year. EmpiRx Health saw a decrease of 4.7% in plan paid per utilizer.
The decrease, EmpiRx Health CEO Karthik Ganesh told Formulary Watch in an interview, is a result of the PBM’s value-based approach to healthcare.