Specialty pharmacy provider panelists included Jeanne Ann Stasny of Walmart Specialty Pharmacy, Nick Calla of Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy, Tim Kaplan of Amber Pharmacy, Anthony Davino of Armada Healthcare, Sharon Ferrer of BioPlus Specialty Pharmacy, Robert Roose of Bioscrip, Nick Saraniti of Commcare Pharmacy, Albert Thigpen of CVS Caremark, Phil Hagerman of Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy, John Musil of The Apothecary Shops, Burt Zweigenhaft of OncoMed and Lee Merritt of MedfusionRx.

NICK SARANITI, COMMCARE: I come from probably the worst- paying Medicaid state and … especially in that HIV space, on drugs like Selzentry or Fuzeon, we’ve seen the state put prior authorization and other hurdles in place across the Medicaid program mandating that genetic testing be conducted and the requirements of the PI be met.

South Florida Business Leader Commcare Pharmacy #10, Nicholas Saraniti Top Executive

Commcare Pharmacy Chief Executive Officer, Nicholas Saraniti, stated that “Commcare’s High-Touch Patient-Centric Model is what differentiates our company from other Specialty Providers. It’s great to know our model is working by having it re-affirmed by the people whom count the most; our patients”.

You could say Nicholas Saraniti’s company has split personalities. From the inside, it looks like a growing corporation with high-tech systems and structures. But looking in on Commcare Pharmacy from a customer’s perspective, it seems like the small company it’s always been.

Comm- care employs five “patient navigators,” who work with patients and payers for successful therapeutic outcomes. Those navigators, explained Commcare CEO Nick Saraniti, function as hands-on patient advocates.

“We recognized a few years back that the market for specialty pharmacy was also expanding,” says Nicholas Saraniti who heads up operations, sales and marketing for the company. Nicholas added, “Our business and clinical model were well established and these core competencies were easily transferable to other therapeutic categories. Today we are very strong in RA, MS, and HepC to name a few. In 2006 we saw the Oral Oncology market take off and we successfully built a position in that high growth segment. Clearly our reputation in the southeast region – especially within the prescriber community and with manufacturers – was a real asset.”

Commcare Pharmacies ranks #13 in South Florida Business Leaders 2008 Rankings. CEO Nicholas Saraniti,