Pharmacy

Blink Health Strengthens Leadership Team to Remain Online Drug Discount Leader

Posted on by John Santilli

Consumer use of drug discount programs has shown rapid growth since launch, led by companies such as GoodRx and Blink Health for uninsured or patients considered underinsured.

Blink Health works to makes prescriptions affordable for everyone with the guaranteed lowest prices on nearly all generic medications commonly prescribed. As the first e-commerce service of its kind, Blink Health negotiates directly with prescription medication suppliers and uses technology to bypass powerful intermediaries. Patients simply purchase their medications through Blink’s website or app and pick up their prescriptions at a local pharmacy.

Blink Health’s target market is the millions of uninsured and underinsured Americans, including an estimated 70 percent on high-deductible health plans. Despite its association with online shopping, Blink Health is targeting all ages, including customers in their 80s.

The business claims more than 1 million monthly active users who are buying the most widely prescribed generic prescriptions. With its proprietary technology, Blink Health offers access to one, low negotiated price on over 15,000 medications.

Blink Health negotiates to get the same price at different pharmacies for generic medications and some branded diabetes medications. Blink Health works at Rite Aid, Walmart, Kroger and K-Mart, but it doesn’t currently work at Walgreens or CVS Health. Blink Health makes money by negotiating, so it negotiates rates with every pharmacy in the country for the prescription medications it covers.

Blink Health continues to be aggressive in a growing in a very competitive market. The company recently lowered prices for 148 of its most common generic drugs. Recently, the company announced it will open a new office in Pittsburgh. The new office, which will accommodate more than 70 employees, will help expand Blink Health’s online pharmacy programs. Executive lead will be industry veteran Michael Nameth.

To remain a market leader, Blink Health has recently enhanced its leadership with the following new hires:

  • Madan Nagaldinne has joined the company as Chief People Officer. Nagaldinne is an internationally-renowned human resources leader known for successfully hyper-scaling growth at companies including Amazon, Facebook and Compass. He will play a critical role in attracting top-tier talent, creating an inspiring culture and developing Blink’s workforce into the most innovative in the industry.
  • Bharath Chinamanthur joins as Executive Vice President, Engineering and Operations. He will be responsible for scaling Blink’s technology platform while also overseeing the company’s engineering operations. Most recently, he held the position of Senior Vice President for the Advisor Services Technology organization at Charles Schwab. He previously spent 11 years in an executive leadership role in Amazon’s consumer and B2B divisions where he helped launch Amazon Business
  • Christopher Plambeck joins as Senior Vice President of Data Sciences and Monetization and brings a breadth of experience in marketing, pricing and core product analytics to help drive user adoption. Plambeck joins the company with over 20 years of industry experience at top companies including Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook. 

Both Chinamanthur and Plambeck were hired within weeks of Nagaldinne joining the company.