A World Without
Distributors
The increased cost and complexity that occurs without healthcare’s critical connectors.
At AmerisourceBergen, we do far more than move products flawlessly from point A to point B. We are the connectors of creators and caregivers, enabling the seamless and economical delivery of pharmaceutical-centered patient care. We drive success and growth for providers and manufacturers, freeing more of their time and resources for what they do best — developing innovation and delivering care.
But what would happen if we weren’t here?
A world without distributors is one where cost and complexity for manufacturers, healthcare providers and, ultimately, patients rise.
Providers
The Distributor
the industry
builder
the intelligence
provider
The guardian
the banker
the marketplace
So Much More Than Pick, Pack and Ship
The many roles of AmerisourceBergen
Advancing access and adding value to the supply chain
A critical part of AmerisourceBergen’s role in healthcare is advancing access to pharmaceutical-led care, the most cost-effective care available. We do that in a way that mitigates financial risk for our manufacturers and makes the entire system more efficient.
We support manufacturers by taking financial ownership of their product and becoming responsible for collecting payment from provider customers.
Providers have a tight cash flow and reimbursement is constantly in flux. Distributors provide sites of care with the capital financing to help cover the cost of carrying inventory between dispense and reimbursement.
The fact is, we take on financial risk that no other stakeholder in the supply chain can (or will). Syndicated across the supply chain, that practice creates a marketplace that enables efficient access–
a marketplace at the center of healthcare.
Ready to learn more about how we connect creators and caregivers?
Continue the conversation with an AmerisourceBergen associate.
Essential, aggregated data on pricing, orders and inventory across all sites of care and for all products
Customer service and sales outreach to tens of thousands of healthcare organizations
Strategically investing to grow key markets
Protecting the healthcare supply chain against fraudulent activities that harm patient care
Receivables management for $150B+ annually across customers of all sizes
and types
Contract, order and pricing management across millions of transactions
1.9 million lines filled daily with 99.9%+ accuracy across all segments
Cost
$53B
Distributors’ core services provide up to $53 billion in value to the healthcare system each year*
Complexity
Business model changes from managing and serving three primary distributor customers to hundreds of thousands of healthcare provider customers
Total Impact
Focus shifts away from developing life-saving medications to delivering them
Cost
83%
83% of customers receive deliveries of prescription pharmaceuticals 5x per week or more, reducing provider inventory levels and costs*
Complexity
Forced to manage contracting, ordering, payment, shipment, timing and returns for hundreds – or even thousands – of products
Total Impact
Focus shifts from delivering care to caring about deliveries
Cost
Distributors’ value-added services, including patient adherence programs, save healthcare
more than $9.8 billion per year*
Complexity
Convenient, local access to medications becomes unreliable – with no guarantees about how, where or when medications will be available
Total Impact
Focus shifts from seeking the best care available to finding where medications are available
Manufacturers
Providers
PatientS
PatientS
Manufacturers
Manufacturers
1 The Role of Distributors in the U.S. Specialty Pharmaceuticals Value Chain. Center for Healthcare Supply Chain Research. December 2015.
Accessed May 2019. Available online athttps://www.healthcaredistribution.org/resources/role-of-the-specialty-distributor-in-the-pharmaceutical-value-chain 2 lbid.
Contact Us
Contact Us
Manufacturers
*The Role of Distributors in the U.S. Health Care Industry. HDA and Deloitte Consulting, July 2019.
*The Role of Distributors in the U.S. Health Care Industry. HDA and Deloitte Consulting, July 2019.
Distributors’ discounts to sites of care for meeting certain contract terms are often the first step in making products more affordable in the marketplace
Manufacturers
Cost
Distributors’ discounts to sites of care for meeting certain contract terms are often the first step in making products more affordable in the marketplace
Distributors’ value-added services, including patient adherence programs, save healthcare more than $9.8 billion per year*
Complexity
Forced into uncertainty and inconvenience – with no guarantees about how, where or when medications will be available
Total Impact
Focus shifts from seeking the best care available to finding where medications are available
Receivables management for $150B+ annually across customers of all sizes
and types
1.9 million lines filled daily with 99.9%+ accuracy across all segments
Contract, order and pricing management across millions of transactions
Protecting the healthcare supply chain against fraudulent activities that harm patient care deliveries
Essential, aggregated data on pricing, orders and inventory across all COTs, manufacturers and products
Cost
*The Role of Distributors in the U.S. Health Care Industry. HDA and Deloitte Consulting, July 2019.
*The Role of Distributors in the U.S. Health Care Industry. HDA and Deloitte Consulting, July 2019.
*The Role of Distributors in the U.S. Health Care Industry. HDA and Deloitte Consulting, July 2019.
$9.8B