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If you don’t recognize the name Credena Health Pharmacy, Elie Bahou completely understands. The SVP and system chief pharmacy officer at Providence knows the specialty pharmacy space has long been dominated by The Big Three: CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, and OptumRX. But Bahou and his massive team at Providence-backed Credena have made great efforts over the last few years to build out Credena’s capacity through a mission-driven, patient-focused integrated health system.
Bahou’s team has invested $11 million to widen Credena’s reach and make it a major player in its market. If its net promoter scores (currently sitting in the high 80s) are any indication, Providence is doing something right with Credena.
“We’re proud of the scores, of our investment, and what we’ve been able to create over the last couple of years,” Bahou says. “We have a state-of-the-art facility that provides a white-glove service for our patients and our customers. With our footprint, we offer free home delivery, mail delivery, and multiple communication options for our patients, backed by an institution with the reputation of Providence.”
But Bahou is nowhere close to satisfied. He says Credena should be capturing more of a market share at a higher pace, given the 1,200 clinics that Providence owns and operates in seven states.
“Frankly, a lot of physicians don’t think of Providence when they think of the name Credena, and we’re working to change that,” the SVP explains. “It’s just a matter of educating them about who we are, that we’re part of Providence, and that services we provide go a long way, given the system we’re a part of.”
In a testament to Bahou’s accomplishments, his colleagues throughout the industry hold him in high esteem. “Through Elie’s effective leadership, he has developed an innovative model to reduce waste, drug shortages, and back orders,” says David Jahnke, vice president of sales and national accounts at Meitheal Pharmaceuticals. “Working with Elie and his team has been a privilege, as they align their vision with optimizing revenue while ensuring Providence’s patients receive critical medications. Partnering on the Direct 90 program has allowed us at Meitheal to advance our mission of ‘simplifying access to life-changing medicine.’ Elie is leading healthcare in a new direction, bringing sustainability, access, and financial health to the industry.”
The chief pharmacy officer has spent decades in his space. Unlike many executives in his position, Bahou began his career as a pharmacist. His first real job was in retail pharmacy for what would become Rite Aid, where he spent the first twenty-one years of his career. He rose through the ranks to sales director for clinical services and national accounts and then senior director for managed care and contracting.
While Bahou was negotiating a deal with OptumRX, the organization’s president asked if he could take Bahou out for lunch. By the time it was over, Bahou had accepted an SVP role in network development and contracting. He’d learned his craft and his expertise at RiteAid, but OptumRX would teach him a whole different set of skills.
“When I started there, I think their stock was somewhere around $30 a share,” Bahou recalls. “Right now, it closes around $560. The pressure that came with that role during that growth period was unlike anything I’d ever experienced in my career. It was about finding out how to prioritize and implement opportunities and continue to optimize revenues.”
Prior to coming to Providence, Bahou spent four years at Cardinal Health because he wanted to learn the business of buying drugs, negotiating on the retail side of the business, buying products, and forging relationships with wholesalers. That experience would come in handy when he eventually moved to Providence, where he’s spending billions on pharmaceuticals.
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Despite his expertise in pharmacy, Bahou considers himself more of a “sales guy.”
“I just love people,” Bahou says. “I’ve learned from some truly transformational leaders at multiple jobs, and I take my leadership position very seriously. But mostly, it’s about making the right connection with people.”
That commitment to connecting with people has paid off for Bahou and Providence in the form of numerous partnerships. For example, Leiters Health has worked with Providence and had a notably positive experience with Bahou.
“Our partnership with Elie and the Providence Health pharmacy team exemplifies Leiters Health’s commitment to supporting health system pharmacy operations,” says Marc Mullen, chief commercial officer at Leiters Health. “By combining our expertise with Providence Health’s dedication to innovative healthcare solutions, we’re able to ensure their patients receive reliable high-quality compounded medications. Together, we’re driving meaningful outcomes and raising the standards in pharmaceutical outsourcing. This collaboration highlights the power of partnership in advancing healthcare and improving lives.”
And new partnerships are forming all the time. “Our new partnership with Elie and Providence reflects our shared commitment to innovation in patient care,” says Sirj Goswami, PhD, InsightRX’s CEO and co-founder. “Through implementation of precision medicine software, our team aims to help Providence improve clinical outcomes through data-driven dosing decisions.”
Bahou remembers caring for his dying father while working at Rite Aid. He remembers receiving flowers, food, and a personal call from his boss telling him to take as much time as he needed, and how the whole organization had his back. It’s the kind of leader Bahou wanted to become, a style the SVP considers “transformational servant leadership.”
As he’s evolved into leadership roles, Bahou has become a mentor for dozens. He teaches his mentees about networking and connecting with people, advising them on stretch assignments that might enhance their growth and lead to new opportunities.
“I try to encourage the people I mentor to get to know a cross-sectional team of leaders at my level, one below, and one above,” Bahou explains. “I try to help build their confidence. I support them. And a lot of it just comes down to listening to them.”
Bahou’s tenure has included watching the pharmacy space first inflate at a massive rate and now—as evidenced by Walgreens shuttering 1,200 stores nationwide—grappling with how to move forward.
“Everyone was vying for higher volume,” Bahou remembers. “Everyone was putting clinics in their pharmacies, and now we’re seeing many of these players closing their stores. It’s a very interesting time in pharmacy.”
Bahou says pharmacy margins continue to shrink. He’s seeing organizations having to produce much more to generate revenues on par with even just a few years ago. At the same time, new federal legislation from the National Institutes of Health is working to establish more proactive treatment for patients before smaller medical issues become full-blown health crises. It’s a period of great change, and Bahou has seen his field grow and evolve to keep up.
Bahou doesn’t have to worry about the retail space, at least not at present. But his kids might. The SVP’s three children all followed in their father’s footsteps. The only member of Bahou’s family who doesn’t work in the healthcare industry is his dog, Jackson. He says his connection to his family and loved ones makes his life whole. And given the amount of healthcare expertise in the Bahou household, maybe even Jackson will try his paws at the pharmacy game.
Nonprofit generic pharmaceutical company Civica Rx was created by U.S. hospitals and philanthropies to prevent and mitigate drug shortages, ensuring the affordable supply of essential medications used in America’s critical care settings. We are deeply appreciative of Governing Member Providence Health’s six years of support for Civica and especially grateful for Elie Bahou’s valuable contributions as part of our Drug Selection Advisory Committee. Together, we have provided nearly 200 million units of medications to help treat 90 million patients. Our new 140K sf sterile injectable manufacturing facility in Virginia will bring even more stability to the supply of key medications.
Leiters Health is a trusted FDA-registered 503B outsourcing provider of high-quality compounded sterile preparations and pharmacy services. It is committed to providing healthcare professionals and their patients with critically needed medications. Its team of experts in sterile pharmaceutical manufacturing, repackaging, and compounding provides a sophisticated understanding of what it takes to elevate the quality and consistency of supply in pharmaceutical outsourcing. Leiters Health combines a highly experienced team, with robust automated processes, in state-of-the-art outsourcing facilities to ensure the delivery of the highest quality medicines. To learn more, please visit www.leiters.com.
Founded in 2017, Meitheal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a Chicago-based biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of generic injectables, fertility, biologic and biosimilar products. Meitheal’s mission is to simplify access to life-changing medicine at fair prices through robust manufacturing, consistent supply, and rapid response to our customers’ needs. Meitheal currently markets over 60 FDA-approved products across diverse therapeutic areas such as anti-infectives, oncolytics, intensive care, and fertility. As of October 2024, Meitheal has more than 20 products in the research and development phase and 19 products under FDA review, with plans to have 71 products on the market by 2025.
QuVa is a national, industry-leading provider of pharmacy services, including ready-to-administer sterile outsourcing and advanced AI-generated insights providing clarity for revenue capture and inventory management. QuVa Pharma delivers essential medications in injectable formats critical for effective patient care. LogicStream, a QuVa company, partners with health systems to aggregate, normalize, and analyze large amounts of complex data through AI and machine learning tools that generate actionable insights supporting revenue optimization, inventory management, and inventory-related workflows. Through QuVa’s integrated solutions, health systems can transform pharmacy management to achieve greater value by operating more efficiently and effectively as they deliver high-quality patient care.
