In this multi-part series, we will explore how to build scalable telehealth infrastructure for GLP-1 and weight loss programs within the weight management and obesity care vertical end market.
The Fulfillment Fallacy: Supply Chain and Logistics is Not as Easy As It Seems
Often times, when our team at MD Integrations chats with founders and aspiring telehealth operators, we make sure to convey that there are three distinct pillars in virtual care:
Each of these pillars hold their own core competencies, and very rarely do you see a single entity that does all three (or does all three well) at scale.
The third pillar, pharmacies and lab/diagnostics, is the focus of this particular thought piece, as it is the ‘last mile’ of what makes a successful metabolic engine keep running in the competitive weight loss and GLP-1 vertical end market.
What many telehealth operators in the metabolic health space fail to realize is that their pharmacy partners manage quite a bit of complexity across various funnels, and yet remain as the unsung heroes in orchestrating these with precision, timeliness, and high degrees of accuracy and efficiency.
The pharmacies in the supply chain need to be tightly integrated on numerous technology systems (e-script platform, order and subscription management platforms, payment processing platforms as three main items), need to provide significant quality control across its raw materials sourcing and treatment manufacturing/handling processes (including maintaining licensures, passing audits, and having clean certificates of analysis), and need to provide timely, accurate fulfillment at scale.
With that said, these pharmacies deal with the brunt of tighter margins due to the higher human capital and/or higher levels of capital intensity in their operations, and are constantly negotiating on pricing against other competitors for telehealth brands in the metabolic and weight management space to win the share of their customers and volume from patients over time.
This leads many to the “fulfillment fallacy” thinking that all pharmacies are built the same for successful scale and to ensure that metabolic engines continue running to serve weight loss patients nationally.
News flash folks - they are not. And here are some key ways to ensure you are partnering with the right pharmacies.
Quality, Compliance, Availability, Responsiveness
While many pharmacies and lab/diagnostic companies provide competitive pricing sheets or claim that they are a specialist in a particular area, it is always a good idea to take a few steps back and assess each of them within a more unified, comprehensive context as follows.
First, assess the pharmacy's quality control processes. This includes understanding how they run batch testing of their raw materials and manufactured items, including seeing a facility tour or understanding their operations in more detail. Asking for certificates of analysis and ensuring that these are done properly with oversight goes a long way to provide yourself assurance that they not only meet, but exceed quality standards that work well for patients seeking care.
Tied with that is an understanding of a pharmacy partner’s level of compliance, including their respective certifications to operate and internal legal apparatus to support your metabolic health brand.
Availability comes next, and it not only ties to the staffing at the pharmacy from a sales, customer support, pharmacist, and operations standpoint, but also from the availability of materials and supply that the pharmacy has today and in the future to support your scale and continued presence in the marketplace.
Large biotechnology companies have CDMOs that assist with this at scale and do full-fledged procurement processes with providers, but other telehealth brands exploring direct-to-patient models using direct, mail order, and compounding pharmacies need to really stress test the availability of staffing and supply before they decide to do business with the entities.
And finally, the responsiveness of your pharmacy partners in your metabolic health business can be a final make-or-break factor to the longevity (no pun intended) of your platform. Having a team that helps ensure your patients and your team receive answers on fulfillment of medication, changes in medication, and customer service and support issues through high degrees of responsiveness is critical.
Ensuring Proper Redundancy for Business Continuity and Successful Patient Outcomes
A final point to hammer home as you are building the successful platform for weight loss and metabolic health is ensuring that your pharmacy and supply chain have redundancy.
Never put your proverbial “eggs in one basket” when it comes to any provider, let alone your pharmacy or lab/diagnostic part of your value chain and business model.
It may seem superfluous or difficult/arduous to engage with multiple entities upfront as you are getting launched and scaled, but it ensures a handful of items, such as:
With these in your toolbox, you can ensure you build the right integrated pharmacy and supply chain hub for your weight loss and metabolic health business.
Follow along for Part Five of the series, where we will unpack the importance and critical component of The Data and Efficacy Ledger: Longitudinal Outcome in telehealth infrastructure.
Please reach out to our team at MD Integrations to learn how you can launch and scale your telehealth brand compliantly.