How CastiaRX transformed pharmacy benefits

CastiaRx is a Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) that manages prescription drug programs for union groups and small to mid-size employer groups. As one of the first lines of defense in healthcare, CastiaRx understands the importance of bringing innovation to the Pharmacy Benefit Management space. CastiaRx recognized an opportunity to become an industry leader by improving data availability and quality and providing timely and accurate information to members.

CastiaRx sought a more sophisticated and contemporary data management solution, as well as expert assistance to collaborate with their team. The organization was challenged with over 50 Microsoft Access databases and lacked a single source of truth, which restricted its ability to obtain key performance indicators and metrics essential for data-driven decision-making. This data gap prevented CastiaRx from realizing cost savings and potential market share. As a member of the Healthcare Ecosystem, CastiaRx required a solution that complied with stringent HIPAA regulations. Moreover, the solution needed to be scalable from an infrastructure perspective to handle increasing data volume, data transformation, and automation. Although CastiaRx was interested in a cloud-based solution, it required assistance to navigate its options.

CastiaRx was looking for a true partner – one that was able to not only understand their business but who was able to quickly deploy a solution. Inspire11 has a unique approach to partnering and demonstrated an ongoing willingness to work hard to build a strong relationships at all levels of the business.

Most importantly, Inspire11 delivered. Inspire11’s deep experience across data analytics and modern data architecture helped CastiaRx to clearly understand the options in the world of cloud computing. Partnering to implement the right solution for CastiaRx solution had a significant impact on the bottom line.

Inspire11 introduced CastiaRx to the suite of solutions provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS), including Amazon’s Relational Database Service (RDS), to simplify the administrative burden typical with on-premise-based solutions. The most critical driving factors for CastiaRx to select AWS were the ability to deploy quickly, the security of the data, the scalability of the solution set, and the cost.

Over a six-month engagement, Inspire11 partnered with CastiaRx to aggregate all 50 data sets into an AWS-based modern data architecture. The solution included the utilization of AWS S3 and AWS EC2 to house the data and leveraged MySQL, Python, and Alteryx for data presentation and advanced modeling, with Tableau as the primary presentation and reporting layer. While the initiative ran over six months, Inspire11 provided interim opportunities for the CastiaRx team to access staged data. Along the way, Inspire11 partnered with the CastiaRx team to navigate industry-specific data sources, including NCPDP Data, Medispan, and Mail Specialty Pharmaceutical data. The successful partnership was supported by a small team focused on deeply understanding CastiaRx’s business and partnering directly with the financial analysis team to deliver the analytics and insights most important to CastiaRx.