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HEALTHCARE
NEWS
Mark Cuban is ready to buck healthcare's status quo
By Katie Adams
W
hether they take the form of
pharmacy benefit managers or
spokespeople, Mark Cuban cuts
out middlemen.
In January 2021, Mr. Cuban — a billionaire
investor known for owning the NBA's Dallas
Mavericks and starring on ABC's Shark
Tank — launched a generic drug company
called the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co.
e company has expanded since then,
launching an online pharmacy, building a
manufacturing facility and working to create
its own PBM.
Mr. Cuban said he is not disrupting the
pharmacy space to make money. In fact, he's
decidedly unfocused on growing profitability
for his drug company, he told Becker's in a
Feb. 21 email he sent just 24 minutes aer
our inquiry was sent.
"Our sole mission is to be the low-cost drug
provider for as many drugs as we can possi-
bly offer," Mr. Cuban said. "at is counter
to most business interests, particularly over a
long period of time."
e company's rejection of bureaucracy
is incongruous with healthcare's love-hate
relationship with red tape. Many healthcare
leaders criticize bureaucracy one day, then
point to their industry as the most regulated
of all as a reason for inactivity the next.
Mr. Cuban pointed to hospital price trans-
parency as an example: Even when the fed-
eral government requires transparency, hos-
pitals fail to comply, and those that do post
price disclosure lists that look "like some-
thing straight out of the Looking-Glass."
Since price transparency regulations went
into effect Jan. 1, 2021, CMS has sent about
342 warning notices to hospitals that have
been found noncompliant with the rule.
Health system leaders would be wise to keep
an eye on Mr. Cuban, not only for his phar-
macy efforts but for his alarmingly straight-
forward approach.
Mr. Cuban is behind a running list of actions
so simple they practically warrant a double
take. e Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co.
was born from a cold email. Drugs at the
pharmacy are sold with a 15 percent markup
for price, a $3 pharmacy fee to pay the phar-
macists it works with and a fee for shipping.
("at's it," Mr. Cuban says.) Mr. Cuban also
accepted and completed our interview at a
rate even the most well-staffed PR agencies
cannot match — sans calendar invitation or
spokesperson.
is modus operandi is worth its weight in
gold in healthcare. And Mr. Cuban knows it.
"Sometimes industries get so set in their
ways, so acquisitive and incestuous, or the
opportunities are so big that they become
the focus of private equity and other similar
investors," he said. "When that happens, it
takes someone from the outside and a lot of
years to result in change. Just look at the auto
or mainframe computer industries as prime
examples."
Although healthcare at large struggles to
embrace transparency, Mr. Cuban said
his drug company will forge its own path.
One of the company's biggest initiatives
is creating its own PBM that will estab-
lish contractual relationships with enti-
ties including cities, hospital unions and
self-insured companies. Mr. Cuban said the
PBM's competitive advantage hinges on its
transparency and simplicity.
Simplicity is a guiding principle for the Mark
Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co., from its PBM to
its name to its main goal, which Mr. Cuban
put — again — simply: to save patients "a lot
of money" and reduce their stress.
"at comes from executing on our plans
and reducing the stress of patients and
doctors throughout the country," he told
Becker's. n
Walmart's 10 spine Centers
of Excellence: Mayo Clinic,
Geisinger and more
By Alan Condon
W
almart's Centers of Excellence program for spine surgery affiliates
with health systems that demonstrate appropriate and high-quality
care with great outcomes.
The program bundles payments for certain procedures, which allows Walmart
to bypass insurers and work directly with health systems. Through the initia-
tive, the retail giant pays for the entire cost of employees to travel and receive
spine surgery at designated facilities. Employees can seek care outside of the
designated centers, but they will be responsible for the bill.
Here are the 10 spine Centers of Excellence in the Walmart program:
1. Emory University Hospital (Atlanta)
2. Geisinger Medical Center (Danville, Pa.)
3. Carolina NeuroSurgery & Spine Associates (Charlotte, N.C.)
4. Mercy Hospital Springfield (Mo.)
5. Mayo Clinic Arizona (Phoenix)
6. Mayo Clinic Florida (Jacksonville)
7. Mayo Clinic Minnesota (Rochester)
8. Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center (Houston)
9. Ochsner Medical Center (New Orleans)
10. Virginia Mason Medical Center (Seattle) n
