As demand for prescription medications continues to rise and as more Americans navigate complex health conditions, the need for simpler, more transparent pharmacy solutions has never been greater. Both clients and consumers are looking for solutions that are easier to navigate, more transparent, and better connected to how healthcare is experienced today.
Recent research reinforces this shift: employers are increasingly prioritizing a more intuitive experience in how pharmacy benefits are designed and managed, while employees are looking for clearer understanding and confidence in how their benefits work.
To help meet these evolving needs, Express Scripts Pharmacy Benefits Services (PBS), a division of Evernorth Health Services, is advancing the development of a new, modernized technology platform for its PBS business. This development will be accelerated by the acquisition of the technology platform supporting nirvanaHealth’s PBM (Aria).
We recently spoke with DP Koka, Executive Vice President and Global Chief Information Officer of The Cigna Group, about how evolving market needs are shaping pharmacy benefit technology – and how this investment provides a strong, scalable foundation to accelerate development of a more integrated and personalized experience.
How are evolving market needs shaping the role of technology in pharmacy benefits – and why does it matter?
We’re seeing a fundamental shift in how pharmacy benefits are expected to work and be experienced.
Rising demand, increasing complexity, and evolving benefit designs are reshaping how employers, unions, governments and other health plan sponsors manage pharmacy programs – and placing greater demands on the technology that support them. At the same time, expectations are shifting toward clearer, more connected, and more intuitive experiences.
Employers increasingly expect benefits that are easier to understand and manage, while consumers want to know what to expect when they fill a prescription and feel confident in how their benefits work.
From a technology perspective, these dynamics are reinforcing the need for more integrated, flexible platforms that can deliver usability, clarity, and trust.
How is Express Scripts PBS using technology to respond to these changes?
We are focused on advancing pharmacy benefit services in a way that reflects these evolving expectations – delivering solutions that are simpler to navigate, more transparent in how they work, and better aligned to the needs of both clients and consumers.
This includes ongoing innovations such as Evernorth’s new Signature® Pharmacy Benefit Services model and other efforts to improve how pharmacy benefits are designed, managed, and experienced, with a focus on creating more consistent, intuitive, and consumer-centered experiences.
Modern technology platform capabilities play a critical role in enabling that progress. By investing in a modern, flexible, cloud-based technology platform, we are creating the foundation to better integrate, customize and connect the different components of the pharmacy benefit – making it easier to access information and assess options.
The new technology platform we are developing will build on and strengthen these priorities over time, expanding the capabilities that support advancements like our Signature model and enabling a more connected and responsive pharmacy benefit experience. As always, we will continue to innovate and advance the next generation of pharmacy benefit services.
