SmithRx Interview Series: Jake Frenz, CEO & Founder

So what is with the Anvil?

When I was thinking about a name for the company, I was really thinking about finding a fit for the vision and where the company would move in the future. The anvil comes from a smith — a craftsman, someone who is precise about their trade. That embodies the ethos of our company and what we’re trying to do by building a pharmacy benefits product that doesn’t exist in the marketplace, similar to a smith. The anvil is an old school tool that blacksmiths continue to use even today. It’s a symbol and representation of our vision, ethos, and what we do as a company.

What inspired you to start SmithRx?

Since leaving the Marine Corps, I’ve spent my career in healthcare working for one of the largest insurance companies in the country, spending time designing new innovative healthcare products, and helping build a third party administrator. Throughout all of that, I put together a very good understanding of the complexities in the payer ecosystem and lack of innovation in the most complex part — pharmacy benefits. Antiquated technology drives much of the lack of innovation and inefficiencies in healthcare. SmithRx is moving to the marketplace as a complete alternative path forward, and we are building entirely from the ground-up on modern technology producing efficiencies that don’t exist elsewhere. This is how we re-envision pharmacy benefits across the marketplace and addressing the needs of the market today.

What does it mean to be pass-through versus transparent?

We are very specific around our pass-through business model. We don’t make any revenue through the retail, mail, or specialty channels. We also don’t take any portion of the rebates. The only revenue we make is through our admin fee. So we are acting in the best interests of the plan sponsor and are aligned with companies that pay for their healthcare and really care about health outcomes. Since we are a tech company, we can operate at a lower baseline than anyone else in the market which helps us make this business model cost competitive.

What are you most proud of?

I’m most proud of the brilliant team of people at SmithRx. The people that we have here are truly unique. We look and feel very different compared to any other healthcare company in the ecosystem. As a result, our approach and passion to solving problems are different. So, what we’ve been able to accomplish to date in this complex space would not have been possible without everyone’s tireless efforts. In fact, when we first started, many people didn’t believe that building a pass-through PBM from the ground-up on modern technology was possible. Our team has overcome these challenges and delivered a brilliant product that is changing the status quo.

We hear you’re a fantastic chef. What’s your favorite thing to create for entertaining guests?

I think soups are very exciting! You can make soups in a variety of ways where they can be very basic or super complex. There is a lot that goes into a soup starting with making the stock from scratch. It can be rich and deep, or light and fresh. And, the best part is, no one expects a soup course at dinner when they go to someone’s house .