Making a Difference Every Day: A Focus on the Member Experience

“Service is the most important thing. Customers make choices not by price, but by service,” Mike stated. “There are so many choices, if a company is not able to apply consistent, reliable service, the customer will go elsewhere and when they do, it’s difficult to get them back.” Mike explained that companies have been innovative with providing service during the pandemic—from self-checkout options to increased mobile ordering and curbside pickup, to lockers in stores for pickup options.

“Every interaction with a member is extremely important and we need to give our all,” Mike said. He takes this seriously after witnessing his mother-in-law coping with a number of medical conditions while growing older. Mike remembers how hard it was seeing his mother-in-law sitting at the coffee table with 25 pills in front of her, trying to manage what she needed to take in the morning, afternoon and at night, and now Mike wants to help people in similar situations who are struggling to manage their healthcare benefits and prescriptions. “Every day, I think of my mother-in-law and try to make a difference,” Mike explained.

After graduating from Saint Louis College of Pharmacy, Mike started his career as a pharmacist at Yociss Pharmacy, A few years later he opened the first Medicate Pharmacy location where he spent 35 years, working with patients coming into his stores. “I realized I was making a difference in our community, and after seeing what my mother-in-law experienced, I wanted to make a difference. So, I expanded into the pharmacy benefits field,” he explained.

Mike has led his team at PBCG for eight years. I come in every day and continue to make a difference for the companies and their members we serve,” he said. “You’re talking to people who don’t want to be sick, who don’t want to be taking medication, just like my mother-in-law. So, you put yourself in their shoes and help them navigate their healthcare journey. You try to make a difference for them.” And Mike encourages his team to do the same.

Mike has a goal of not only making things easier for the member, but also making things easier for his employees. “Sometimes, when you look at processes, they don’t always make it easy for employees. I want to make it easy so they can focus on members and their needs, rather than systems and processes,” Mike said.

Mike is also focused on making PBCG a great place to work. He knows the past year and half has been difficult for his team, with attrition, COVID and switching to a new landscape of working from home. “How do we improve our ability to engage with employees? How can we make them feel like they’re working in the office while working at home? That’s the goal for 2023—to make increased engagement the standard,” Mike explained. With this goal, Mike hopes to increase employee retention and satisfaction, leading to greater satisfaction for our clients and their members as well.