Dr. Moby Kazmi never chooses the traditional path. While attending medical school, Moby noticed a troubling issue in the healthcare industry. Physicians’ staff were spending an inordinate amount of time handling reimbursement issues, rather than focusing on patient care. Existing co-pay assistance organizations were not convenient, often expecting terminally ill patients to manage logistics, causing additional trauma for those already in dire medical need.
Moby decided to not continue on to finish his medical residency. Instead, he planned to launch a healthcare technology solution and felt time was of the essence. It was a decision that weighed on him heavily, and was accompanied by a great deal of resistance from his family.
He went on to create his first company, CareMed Specialty Pharmacy, which quickly gained recognition as one of the nation’s fastest growing, privately held companies by Inc. Magazine, and by December 2013, annual sales reached $250MM. PharMerica, a leading provider of pharmacy services, acquired CareMed in March 2017.
Moby Kazmi’s next venture was CoPilot Provider Support Services, with the goal of providing best-in-class experiences for both patients and physicians, eliminating the stress, challenges and burdens of standard reimbursement processes. The goal was simple: ensure patients receive access to the life-changing and life-saving medication prescribed to them by their doctors.
Moby Kazmi and his talented executive team developed an industry leading service offering and implemented his strategic vision sustained by three touchstones: People, Processes and Platforms.
People
With an annual turnover rate of <5%, a number of Moby’s colleagues have accompanied him on his journey since the very beginning. The benefit is that customers receive experienced, quality and consistent service from a CoPilot team member who is committed and genuinely cares.
Processes
Never pleased with the status quo, Moby Kazmi created an environment that encouraged the creation of processes that were not uniform, but instead unique to the specific reimbursement requirements of different drugs and disease states. The value of Moby’s approach is that CoPilot helps patients quickly navigate the insurance maze to receive their needed medicine.
Platforms
Moby Kazmi and his team created a proprietary technology platform allowing physician practices to register patients for support services, upload clinical data and the status of a case in real time. The benefit is that >95% of patient insurance benefits are completed by CoPilot on the same day as program enrollment vs. an industry standard of three days. As Moby says of these turnaround times, “this means patients receive their medications faster to alleviate symptoms, and ultimately, live a better quality life.”
Moby Kazmi established and drives CoPilot Cares, a charitable initiative that benefits underprivileged children and families around the world through a variety of philanthropic efforts. One of CoPilot Cares’ key investments is the installation of hand pumps for clean water where access is lacking. To date, CoPilot Cares has installed more than 200 hand pumps in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, providing clean water to families within their local communities.
“It is very easy to feel overwhelmed by big problems that affect hundreds of millions of people and think there is nothing to be done. I have always thought that despite the size of a problem, I must do something,” says Kazmi.
“With our hand pump initiative, we are able to empower underserved communities across the globe by providing the means to improve the quality of their lives and their social and economic prospects. We all have the opportunity to make a difference, one drop at a time.”
Double Digit Company Growth
In the beginning of Q2 2020, CoPilot’s revenue was reduced by almost 40 percent and faced an uphill battle with many clients needing to decrease budgets due to their own pandemic-related challenges. Moby quickly strategized with his senior leadership team and invested in added equipment and fortified IT security to transition the CoPilot team to work from home, allowing a new offering that both helped employees work day to day and provide exceptional service to current and prospective clients. This new capability awarded CoPilot two new pharmaceutical contracts and took the company to new heights, which included an opportunity to move its HQ to Florida and grow its workforce by 20 percent.
Putting Employees First
Not only did Moby Kazmi make the difficult decision to not engage in layoffs or furloughs in the face of revenue decline, he also provided every employee an extra two weeks of paid leave in addition to what was provided by the federal government. As a medical doctor, Moby knew his CoPilot team needed the extra time to support and care for family members inflicted with the virus, or simply time off for emotional self-care. As a leader, Moby wanted to ensure his team did not experience added stress or worrying about the security of their jobs and/or having to place financial concerns over the health and welfare of their families.
New Headquarters in Orlando
In December 2020, Moby Kazmi signed a new lease in Orlando for almost 16,000 square feet, solidifying CoPilot’s move to position Orlando as its headquarters. The shift supports a rapid expansion for the company, potentially creating hundreds of new jobs within the area. This win was in part to new business secured and a focus on an area of the country where Moby intends to leverage a great deal of talented healthcare professionals. Moby Kazmi’s leadership as outlined above is defined by his care and empathy for others, factors that have positioned CoPilot well to not only survive, yet thrive in ways that are setting best practices for any company. These achievements speak to Moby’s character and demonstrate his commitment to his CoPilot family in a way that goes well beyond being the president of the company.
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