Best Value
Complete Library — All 12 Playbooks
The Complete CounterRx Library
Defense Library (KS01–07) — DIR fees, PBM audits, MAC pricing, narrow networks, contract red flags, forced mail order, prior authorization
Offense Library (KS08–11) — star ratings, specialty access, compounding strategy, 340B
KS12 — the independent pharmacy business model capstone
+ Exclusive Bonus: Offense Readiness Assessment — which growth play to run first, and in what sequence
Offense Library (KS08–11) — star ratings, specialty access, compounding strategy, 340B
KS12 — the independent pharmacy business model capstone
+ Exclusive Bonus: Offense Readiness Assessment — which growth play to run first, and in what sequence
$297 — individual value $614+
Get the Complete Library →
★
Includes the Offense Readiness Assessment — exclusive to this bundle and the Offense Library. Not sold separately.
Defense Library
The Independent Pharmacy Defense Library
"If you're bleeding from PBM behavior today, start here."
KS01 — DIR Fee Defense
KS02 — PBM Audit Defense
KS03 — MAC Pricing Defense
KS04 — Narrow Network Strategy
KS05 — PBM Contract Red Flags
KS06 — Forced Mail Order Counter-Strategies
KS07 — Prior Authorization Defense
KS02 — PBM Audit Defense
KS03 — MAC Pricing Defense
KS04 — Narrow Network Strategy
KS05 — PBM Contract Red Flags
KS06 — Forced Mail Order Counter-Strategies
KS07 — Prior Authorization Defense
$197 — save $132
Offense Library
The Independent Pharmacy Offense Library
"Once you've stabilized the PBM channel, these are your first growth levers."
KS08 — Star Ratings & Quality Metrics
KS09 — Specialty Drug Access
KS10 — Compounding Under Pressure
KS11 — 340B: Threat or Partnership?
+ Offense Readiness Assessment (exclusive bonus)
KS09 — Specialty Drug Access
KS10 — Compounding Under Pressure
KS11 — 340B: Threat or Partnership?
+ Offense Readiness Assessment (exclusive bonus)
$197
★ Includes exclusive Offense Readiness Assessment — not sold separately
Capstone Playbook
KS12 — Standalone Flagship
The Independent Pharmacy Business Model Playbook
The 3-year revenue mix and 90-day diversification plan for getting off PBM dependence. The honest version — what the pharmacies that make it actually do, what separates them, and what a real pivot looks like. If you buy nothing else and just need the full map, buy this.
$97
Get KS12 →
Defense Playbooks — $47 Each
DIR Fee Defense Playbook
DIR fees are the PBM's most profitable tool — they reimburse you today and take the money back months later. Your standard P&L will never show you it's happening. Built on 8 years inside a major PBM, this playbook shows you exactly how the mechanism works and how to fight it.
What's inside:
- How the 4-step clawback mechanism actually works
- The 5 financial calculations most pharmacies are getting wrong
- How the PBM is actually scoring your performance
- The 6 operational levers that reduce DIR exposure
PBM Audit Defense Playbook
PBM audit departments are revenue recovery functions, not compliance functions. By the time the letter arrives, the auditor already has a recovery estimate. This playbook shows you how to stop being an easy target — before the letter ever arrives.
What's inside:
- How pharmacies get targeted (the invisible risk score)
- What auditors are actually looking for — claim by claim
- Which findings are genuinely disputable — and which to concede
- The 30-minute audit readiness assessment
MAC Pricing Defense Playbook
MAC pricing takes the money before you close the drawer. The PBM sets a Maximum Allowable Cost using the acquisition prices of high-volume buyers — not yours. The revenue is real. The margin is not.
What's inside:
- Why the MAC price is calibrated against buyers you can never compete with
- The 5 financial calculations including the break-even MAC floor formula
- How to run a systematic MAC appeal program
- Contract terms that make MAC exposure worse
Narrow Network Strategy Playbook
Narrow networks are built around economics, not quality. The PBM has already run the adequacy assessment before they contact you — they know whether you're necessary. This playbook shows you how to know your leverage before they do.
What's inside:
- How PBMs actually build narrow networks
- Where your adequacy leverage lives (rural, urban, specialty, LTC)
- The legal and regulatory tools that actually produce reinstatement
- 6 contract provisions that make exclusion risk worse
PBM Contract Red Flags Playbook
The provisions that close pharmacies aren't in the reimbursement schedule. They're in sections labeled "Miscellaneous" and "Administrative Provisions" — placed there specifically because that's where they won't be read.
What's inside:
- 5 structural signals to read before you read a single clause
- 7 hidden dangerous provisions and exactly where they hide
- How deliberate drafting techniques limit your rights without appearing to
- The 30-minute contract review: 8 stops, 3 buckets, 1 number on the front page
Forced Mail Order Counter-Strategies Playbook
Mail order isn't one problem. It's five coordinated systems designed to redirect your maintenance prescription volume to the PBM's own facility. The real annual cost: $80,000–$200,000. Most owners calculate $35,000 from the dispensing report.
What's inside:
- The five mail order mechanisms — how each one works and how they're coordinated
- Your legal rights at the counter — what you can tell patients about their claim, cash price, and right to appeal
- Clinical exemption categories that support documented retail dispensing
- The prescriber relationship playbook — how to get the call before the 90-day authorization
- Four contract provisions that enable mail order steering — and how to negotiate them
Prior Authorization Defense Playbook
Over 90% of PA appeals that reach physician review get approved. The initial denial was not a clinical determination — it was a checklist result designed to exhaust you into abandoning the claim. The five cost categories add up to $128,000–$160,000 annually. Most owners have never run the number.
What's inside:
- Why PA initial denials are checklist functions, not clinical judgments
- The five cost categories totaling $128K–$160K annually — with the full calculation
- The appeal playbook: what wins, what doesn't, and the peer-to-peer request most pharmacies never make
- How to request peer-to-peer review proactively — before the formal appeal clock starts
- Three levers — prescriber relationships, technology, and workflow — built into a counter-system
Offense Playbooks — $47 Each
Star Ratings & Quality Metrics Playbook
Your PDC scores, GDR rates, and Star Rating performance determine whether you stay in networks, get included in preferred tiers, and avoid DIR clawbacks. This playbook cuts through the complexity and gives you a working understanding of the metric system — what moves the numbers, where you're most vulnerable, and what a defensible metric discipline looks like in practice.
What's inside:
- How PDC, GDR, and adherence metrics are calculated and why they matter
- Where your dispensing data creates Star Rating exposure
- How to identify patients at risk before they miss a refill
- Building a weekly review process that actually moves the numbers
- How metrics connect to DIR, PA, and network inclusion decisions
Specialty Drug Access Playbook
Specialty pharmacy is where the margin is — and where the access barriers are highest. This playbook gives you an honest map of the terrain: where access is actually available, what it takes to compete, and how biosimilars are creating a window that didn't exist five years ago.
What's inside:
- How limited distribution networks work and who actually controls access
- White-bag and brown-bag realities: when to fight, when to adapt
- Accreditation requirements: which ones matter, which ones are table stakes
- Biosimilar contracting and margin mechanics for independent pharmacies
- Market-type strategy: rural, urban, and clinic-aligned approaches
Compounding Under Pressure Playbook
Compounding has taken hits from every direction: USP compliance burdens, PBM network exclusions, and aggressive audit targeting have narrowed the field. But the independent pharmacies still doing it well are doing it profitably — because they're operating in the right niches with the right compliance posture.
What's inside:
- USP <795>/<797>/<800> compliance: what's actually required and what creates exposure
- Which compounding niches are still viable under current PBM and regulatory pressure
- How PBMs target compounding claims in audits — and how to build a defensible record
- Network exclusion realities: when to fight for inclusion, when to build outside the network
- Positioning compounding as part of a clinical services model
340B: Threat or Partnership? Playbook
340B creates real pressure for some independent pharmacies and zero relevance for others. This playbook gives you a clear decision framework: how to assess whether 340B is a genuine threat in your area, what the partnership routes actually look like, and how to avoid building a strategic plan around an assumption that doesn't match your market reality.
What's inside:
- How 340B works and why it's not the same threat in every market
- Covered entity relationships: what pharmacies gain and give up in contract pharmacy arrangements
- When 340B is a competitive threat versus a partnership opportunity in your geography
- The compliance and audit exposure that comes with 340B participation
- A decision tree: pursue, monitor, or ignore