CAREMEDSP.COM - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Pharma Relations
Andrew brings almost 20 years of experience with knowledge of both the program creation and operational execution of specialty pharmacy, which has contributed to his success of constructing channel and distribution strategy and designing enhanced specialty pharmacy services to optimize patient engagement and improve access to medications.
Prior to joining CareMed, Andrew served as Director of Channel Strategy for Abbvie and later joined Alexion, AstraZenica's rare disease pharma company. He has also held positions with ACS Specialty Pharmacy where he assisted with everything from call center operations to creating enhanced patient services programs.
Andrew holds a B.S. in Healthcare Administration from Florida Metropolitan University and an MBA with a concentration in Project Management from Walden University School of Business in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Job Titles:
- Chief Commercial Officer
- Senior Financial Analyst With Medco Health Solutions, Inc
Benito Fernandez is responsible for the development, execution, and maintenance of limited distribution and Trade Operations, which encompasses contracting, launch planning, program implementation, reporting, and account management.
Benito brings more than 10 years of health plan and pharmacy benefit management experience with a track record of driving operational excellence by optimizing business processes, adapting to change, and challenging existing practices.
Benito has served as Senior Financial Analyst with Medco Health Solutions, Inc, and he spent more than six years at Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, where he served in a variety of progressively senior roles including auditing, finance, data reporting and analysis, billing, and enrollment.
Benito holds a B.S. in Management from Montclair State University, and an M.B.A. with a concentration in Risk Management from Saint Peters College, Jersey City, New Jersey.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President, Trade Relations
Bill Woodard is a seasoned Trade Professional with expertise and program design experience in the Specialty Pharmacy and Specialty Distribution service models. Bill is responsible for managing and advancing relationships along with creating key strategies and services in partnership with pharmaceutical manufacturers. He was one of the first trade professionals within the industry, working on manufacturer contracting since the early 1990's and has a reputation for building strong business relationships that yield solid strategic value and trust.
Bill brings over 25 years of experience that encompasses trade relations with independent, PBM-, and payer-owned specialty pharmacies. Most notably, Bill served as a Contracting Executive with Humana Pharmacy, Inc., in the Supply Chain area where he created contracts for access and services. He has also held positions at CVS Caremark as a Vice President of Specialty Pharma Relations from 2006 to 2009 and with Priority Healthcare from 1993 to 2005 as a Senior Vice President of Strategic Alliances.
Bill holds a BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC).
Job Titles:
- Regional Director, Corporate Responsibility
Cameron Franklin has over 15 years of healthcare compliance experience and is responsible for leading the compliance, privacy, and quality assurance programs.
Cameron has served as the Regional Director, Corporate Responsibility Officer for the Louisville Market of Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI), where he was influential in building and maintaining the compliance program for twelve hospitals. He has also served in compliance roles for Humana and PharMerica Corporation, and was responsible for various compliance functions such as licensing, marketing compliance, and regulatory reporting. Prior to his work in healthcare, Cameron worked as a Congressional Caseworker for a U.S. Senator.
Cameron holds a BA from Murray State University and received his MPA from the University of Louisville. He is also certified in Healthcare Compliance from the Health Care Compliance Association.
Job Titles:
- Chief Operating Officer
- Healthcare Executive
Chris Urban is a seasoned healthcare executive who joined the team in 2015. Chris brings multi-unit specialty pharmacy retail, mail, and PBM operations expertise to his role. He is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of all pharmacies, as well as ensuring compliance with all regulations and company policies. Chris is also responsible for leading quality, accreditation, innovation, and customized clinical workflows throughout the organization.
Chris has held a variety of executive positions at CVS/Caremark including Vice President of Specialty Pharmacy Field Operations, Vice President of Hawaii PBM Mail Order Operations, and most recently, Vice President of CarePlus Pharmacy.
Chris earned a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy degree from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science.
Joseph (Joe) Barone has ten years of extensive Oncology Pharmacy experience in adult and pediatric oncology in both inpatient and outpatient settings. He is responsible for developing relationships with key stakeholders such as pharmaceutical companies, payors, and prescribers. Joe also develops clinical pharmacy operations policies and procedures, patient support programs, and oversees pharmacovigilance.
Joe has held roles as an Oncology Clinical Pharmacist at Baptist Cancer Center and an Oncology Clinical Pharmacy Specialist at West Cancer Center. He has also held residencies in the Pediatric Oncology Pharmacy Practice at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and in the Pediatric Pharmacy Practice at LeBonheur Children's Hospital.
Joe holds a Doctor of Pharmacy Degree from St. John's University in Jamaica, New York, and is a Board-Certified Oncology Pharmacist (BCOP).
Julie Owen has over 15 years of pharmacy experience predominantly in Specialty Pharmacy Management. She is responsible for leading Specialty Pharmacy Operations - including intake, benefits verification, prior authorizations, prescription entry, adjudication, quality, and customer service.
Julie served as a Pharmacy Director for PharMerica, a long-term care pharmacy, and led approximately 50 pharmacists and pharmacy technicians while overachieving pharmacy revenue earnings year over year.
Julie holds two Bachelor of Science degrees from Louisiana State University and received her Pharmacy Doctorate (PharmD) from the University of Kentucky. During her pharmacy tenure, Julie earned distinctions as a Board-Certified Oncology Pharmacist (BCOP), a Certified Specialty Pharmacist (CSP), and is multi-state licensed in over 30 states.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Enterprise Pharmacy Operations
Leo Gray has over fifteen years of Pharmacy experience in pharmacy management and operations. He is responsible for leading the Northeast Specialty Pharmacy Operations - including fulfillment, the outbound call team, and directing a team of Pharmacists. Leo works closely with our Clinical Director to establish clinical processes that are implemented to ensure patient safety and satisfaction. He has proactively implemented several process enhancements to optimize performance, exceed best practice standards, drive revenue, and improve the patient experience.
Leo has managed multiple retail pharmacies where he helped to improve access to care and lower costs for patients as well as conducting new hire and immunization training.
Leo holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from SUNY Old Westbury, received his Pharmacy Doctorate (PharmD) from Long Island University Arnold and Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in Brooklyn, New York, and is multi-state licensed.
Job Titles:
- Senior Director, Human Resources
Monica Sheakley is a seasoned human resource professional with over 28 years of experience and strives to make sure the company continues to be a place where talented and passionate people are eager to join, contribute, and thrive. She works closely with business leaders and employees to ignite a culture of trust, inclusion, purpose, and accountability by defining needs within our enterprise and implementing results-driven solutions that create talent strategies and culture for employees across the country.
Before joining the team, Monica served as the HR Business Partner for Standard Register, an HR Generalist at PharMerica, along with human resource management roles in manufacturing and distribution industries.
Monica earned a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Business Administration with an emphasis in Human Resources from Eastern Kentucky University.
Job Titles:
- RPh, CMTM / Pharmacy Director
Nina Shamayeva has over 20 years of Pharmacy Operations experience along with knowledge of Medication Therapy Management Programs. In her current role at CareMed, she is responsible for evaluating internal metrics to identify methods to improve pharmacy performance, ensuring state and federal regulation compliance, reduce costs, and increasing staff productivity.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Information Technology
Ramesh Narsapuram has nearly 20 years of experience, holding several leadership roles in digital technologies and healthcare information technology. He leads digital strategies and advanced technology innovations traversing enterprise architecture, applications, data, cybersecurity, and infrastructure. As a member of the executive leadership team, he explores emerging healthcare technologies and recommends new strategies and solutions to support enterprise initiatives.
Ramesh oversees information technology strategy, platforms, services, and applications while minimizing redundancy and cost to maximize operational efficiency. He also creates programs for IT policies, security, and oversight for governance, compliance, and information management.
Ramesh holds a Master of Science in Management Information Systems (MS-MIS) from the University of Memphis and a master's in International Management from India. He is also certified in ITIL (Service Management), Lean IT, and holds several Microsoft certifications.
Robert Thomson has over 20 years of Infusion and Specialty Pharmacy experience and is responsible for leading the physician and hospital sales organizations. He has served as the Vice President of Sales for Amerita, a Specialty Infusion company, where he led approximately 40 sales people and achieved double-digit growth with significant marketplace expansion during his tenure.
Robert has had a variety of executive positions such as Vice President of Specialty Sales at CVS Caremark, leading a sales force of over 120 salespeople generating revenue of $3.2 billion annually. During this time Robert built an Oncology Sales Force that grew company revenue to $600 million in its first 5 years. He also held Regional Sales and Branch Management roles with OptionCare Incorporated, including Managed Care sales and selling OptionCare's Specialty program to select payers.
Robert holds a BA from Denison University and received his MBA from Notre Dame University.
Job Titles:
- Director, Patient Advocacy
Samantha Baskin has over 17 years of pharmacy experience including retail, long term care, and specialty. She is responsible for leading the Advocacy Department, where a team of patient advocacy coordinators obtain funding from various Not-for-Profit Foundational Programs and Manufacture Patient Assistance Programs.
Samantha has served as a Patient Financial Assistance Supervisor at BriovaRx Specialty Pharmacy, a Pharmacy Consultant at Tare Pharmacy, and a Senior Certified Pharmacy Technician at Walgreens Pharmacy.
She has earned a BS in Health Education with a concentration in Community Health from The University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Trade Relations
Shane Eliason is responsible for developing and enhancing service offerings for new and existing partners, commercialization of data assets, and driving access to new products.
Before his current role, Shane led the development of significant internal and external informatics and technological advances, attaining operational and clinical excellence while strategically aligning with Finance, Operations, Sales, and Trade. He has also spent more than five years with Humana serving in various roles of increasing demand within the Finance, Pharmacy, and Business Informatics departments.
Shane holds a BA in Mathematical Economics from the University of Kentucky and an MBA with a concentration in Finance from The University of Wisconsin, Whitewater.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Marketing
Tracy James is a results-oriented and data-driven marketing professional who is responsible for the development of robust marketing strategies to drive positive script growth, increase patient engagement, and expand our digital marketing presence.
Tracy has over 20 years of strategic marketing, branding & product positioning knowledge within the pharmacy, healthcare, retail, and consumer packaged goods industries.
Tracy has also held agency roles working on brands such as Rite Aid, General Nutrition Centers, and GlaxoSmithKline, and most recently, led marketing efforts for Giant Eagle Pharmacy and Highmark, Inc.
Tracy holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing and Management from Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania.