Abarca is on a mission to make healthcare seamless and personalized. Achieving this vision involves continuously evolving innovative products, such as Darwin, Abarca’s intuitive Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM) platform. Greg Archer, Vice President of Product, plays a pivotal role in enhancing these offerings, driving Abarca’s efforts in the healthcare technology field.
With over 30 years of experience in healthcare management and workplace innovation, Greg brings expertise in organizational transformation, competitive differentiation, and achieving impactful results. Approaching his first year at Abarca, Greg shares insights on the company, the PBM industry, and his journey with Abarca.
Could you describe your roles and responsibilities at Abarca?
My primary responsibility is to oversee the ongoing development of our products and the team that makes it happen. Equally important is our system for gathering and synthesizing feedback from executives, account managers, operations, customers, technologists, subject matter experts, and the market at large. We then take that feedback into consideration to evolve our roadmaps. Timelines, scope, and priorities are routinely reviewed and adjusted as needed due to the pace of change in the PBM ecosystem, so a large part of my role is connecting people, listening, translating, improving execution of our roadmaps, improving product and engineering processes, and collaborating.
What sets Abarca apart from its competitors in the PBM space?
I think Abarca stands out for a wide range of reasons. But, if I were to highlight one reason, it would be the people in this organization. Without a team of caring and driven people, it would be very challenging to move forward and to continue doing the great things that we’re doing. I was attracted to the culture of pursuing a better way, and that’s been reinforced as I’ve gotten to learn more about the organization and people, particularly how motivated and passionate we are when it comes to our goal of making healthcare seamless and personalized for everyone.
In terms of our product offerings, what sets Abarca apart is our unwavering commitment to innovation and ongoing investment in our platform’s evolution. We prioritize staying ahead in an industry that can be challenging for legacy players if they don’t keep up with advancements. Abarca not only tackles these issues head-on but does so with deliberate focus and energy, distinguishing us significantly from our competitors in the marketplace.
What do you believe the healthcare industry needs in the near future?
I think what the healthcare industry absolutely needs is exactly what Abarca’s mission is: to make healthcare seamless and personalized. Additionally, interoperability is crucial. Given the current state of healthcare, I foresee interoperability becoming essential for the success of companies. Whether the industry chooses to embrace this shift voluntarily or not, it really seems inevitable.
Is there anything else you’d like to mention that we haven’t covered? Maybe something noteworthy to emphasize?
I think that a lot of companies talk about their values, but I really believe that Abarca not only cares about its values, it genuinely incorporates them in what we do.
As a result, the values end up being a magnet, and they also end up helping us shape the organization to focus on our shared goals. On a similar note, Abarca also puts into practice good leadership, a relentless focus on improving, and open dialogue. I’ve personally worked in leadership teams that don’t have open and honest communication, and I’m glad to say that Abarca does. I think the leadership at Abarca can have tough conversations, and it’s a refreshing balance of respect, trust and transparency.