In the words of Wayne Salverda, “When people heard the word ‘pharmacist’ 20 years ago, they envisioned a stout, balding, unfriendly, elderly gentleman in glasses and a white lab coat filling prescriptions behind a counter.” As our Senior Director of Clinical Services, Wayne proves that stereotype wrong.
Coming from a retail and managed care pharmacy background, Wayne transitioned to National CooperativeRx in 2009. He oversees clinical programs, provides plan design consultation to members and serves as a clinical resource for members, brokers, consultants, and staff. “Working in the pharmacy benefit management sector allows me to provide more impact than I could on an individual patient basis,” says Wayne.
For Wayne, his interest in pharmacy came from various interest aptitude tests taken over his high school and early college years. “I took several tests and two areas kept coming up: mortuary science and pharmacy. I looked at the job market forecast for both, got a part-time job as a cashier at a local pharmacy to gain some insight and ultimately decided on pharmacy.”
Wayne’s passion for working with people is what motivates his work. “I’m always an advocate for whomever I’m representing,” he explains. “The highlight of my job is knowing members and consultants trust my experience, knowledge and expertise enough to adopt my plan recommendations.”
A large part of Wayne’s role involves data mining and researching — a contrast from the typical pharmacist. He continually monitors the market for upcoming changes, analyzes the impact they may have on members, and tries to proactively identify issues before they become serious.
“Specialty drug costs are a major concern, especially for self-insured plans. The financial pressures and strains of specialty medications on payors are all too real. More innovative strategies are needed for specialty drug management,” states Wayne.
Next year marks Wayne’s tenth anniversary with the Cooperative. When asked what made him stick around, Wayne replies, “The amount of industry change I can drive, a work environment that encourages innovation and creativity, and the appreciation of those I represent. My co-workers are alright too!”
When Wayne isn’t designing clinical programs, he enjoys hiking, biking, gardening, visiting his family farm and communing with nature.
