Hub Services RFP Framework: What Pharma Buyers Evaluate

Overview of the Hub RFP Process

A hub services RFP is one of the most complex vendor selection processes in pharma commercialization. The typical RFP document covers 70+ detailed questions across multiple domains, evaluates both “hard” capabilities (technology, operations, regulatory) and “soft” factors (strategic partnership, innovation, cultural fit), and requires vendors to propose organizational designs, pricing models, technology architectures, and implementation timelines for a specific drug launch.

The RFP structure below reflects the actual categories and questions pharma buyers use, organized by evaluation domain.

1. Pre-Launch & Project Management

Pharma companies expect hub vendors to own the entire implementation lifecycle:

Build-up requirements:

Execute project plan to build hub and associated programs in partnership with pharma team
Develop operational business rules and SOPs (mutually acceptable)
Build technology solutions for patients and providers
Set up dedicated customer service lines (telephone, fax, P.O. Box) — numbers are pharma company property
Design communication intake tools for patient/provider enrollment
Staff training on product, disease overview, ethics/compliance, and safety
Establish program metrics, benchmarking, and CRM infrastructure

Implementation phase requirements:

Dedicated implementation team with primary contact plus shared resource experts (technology, HR, legal, training, compliance, senior management)
Detailed project plan with tasks, responsible parties, and deadlines
System testing and mock simulations of live environment before launch
Development of launch-specific KPIs to monitor success factors

Key insight: The pre-launch phase is where hub vendors differentiate on speed and competence. ConnectiveRx data shows that pre-launch staffing of professional services FTEs (before revenue arrives) is a margin headwind — vendors that can implement faster and more efficiently win on both cost and customer satisfaction.

2. Core Hub Services (Customer-Facing)

The RFP requires vendors to demonstrate capabilities across the full patient journey:

Intake & Enrollment

Patient enrollment processing (digital and physical)
Benefit investigation
Management of IVR and web portal for patient/HCP self-service
Two-way texting for patient/provider communication
OCR tools for enrollment form data extraction
e-Signature capabilities
Inbound communication management from patients, caregivers, and providers

Program Eligibility Management

Financial assistance (copay) eligibility assessment
Quick Start Program (new patients — therapy initiation while PA is in process)
Bridge Program (existing patients with lapse in coverage)
Patient Assistance Program (PAP — free drug for financially eligible uninsured patients)
Drug Replacement Program (product complaints, administration errors, device malfunctions)

Prior Authorization & Reimbursement

e-PA tools with status communication to HCPs and pharmacies
Income verification for PAP applicants (e-income tools)
PA requirement identification and form preparation
Appeals support
Coding and billing guidance

Triage & Dispensing

Business rules for triage of referral forms to specialty pharmacy network
Coordination with in-network specialty pharmacies
Data consolidation and reconciliation across pharmacy partners

Key insight: The breadth of required capabilities explains ConnectiveRx’s finding that hub programs require 10-75+ FTEs. Each of these service elements requires trained personnel, technology integration, and ongoing quality management.

3. Free Drug Pharmacy Services

A distinct evaluation domain for vendors with pharmacy capabilities:

Prescription validation with prescriber per state regulations
Drug Utilization Review
Shipment scheduling coordination with HCPs, sites of care, and patients
24/7 pharmacist availability for patient counseling
Packaging per manufacturer specifications
Inventory management: Security, tracking, aging, reconciliation, destruction, physical counts, FEFO compliance, monthly reconciliation reporting
Demand forecasting support
Ability to work with third-party non-profit organizations for inventory management and auditing

Key insight: This is the domain where EVERSANA’s owned specialty pharmacy gives them a structural advantage. Hub-only vendors like ConnectiveRx must partner with or triage to external specialty pharmacies, creating a handoff point that reduces data visibility and control. ConnectiveRx’s PE sponsors identified specialty pharmacy as the #1 M&A priority for exactly this reason.

4. Copay Program Services

Evaluated as an integrated offering alongside hub:

Full-service copay program setup as secondary insurance
Electronic adjudication at point of dispense for pharmacy benefit
Medical benefit support with alternative payment options when electronic adjudication is unavailable
Eligibility evaluation against specific business rules with periodic re-confirmation
Claims adjudication after primary insurance
Result communication to prescriber, patient, and dispensing pharmacy
Copay program funding: Banking arrangements, fraud prevention, and misuse controls
Digital enrollment strategy alongside traditional enrollment methods

Key insight: Copay integration with hub is increasingly expected. ConnectiveRx’s copay segment (71% gross margin) represents one of the highest-margin services in pharma outsourcing. The RFP’s expectation that copay and hub be evaluated together validates the bundled-service trend both CRx and EVERSANA are pursuing.

5. Organizational Design & Management

Pharma companies evaluate the people model as heavily as the technology:

Leadership Requirements

“Intellectual curiosity and business acumen” to operate at high service levels
Ability to execute tactical responsibilities AND identify strategic process/technology improvements
Must function as a “strategic business partner” to pharma, not just a vendor

Organizational Structure

Pharma company retains right to review and concur on management-level staffing selections
Monthly attrition reporting by service provided
Prior approval required for any subcontractors or offshore staff
Must provide organizational charts showing dedicated vs. shared positions
Visible career path for hub staff within the program

Key Roles Required

Program Manager: Single point of contact with complete ownership of hub services, accountable for day-to-day operations, weekly status meetings, quarterly business reviews
Project Manager: Part-time minimum, driving projects to on-time/on-budget completion; pharma companies prioritize minimizing turnover in this role
Staff training: Initial and periodic compliance training, safety training, product/disease state training, adverse event/product quality complaint courses, with detailed training records

Key insight: ConnectiveRx’s margin improvement plan (cross-training 51% to 70%+ of FTEs, resource pooling targeting 85% utilization) directly addresses the organizational design challenge. The tension between dedicated staffing (pharma companies want) and resource efficiency (hub vendors need) is a central negotiation point in every hub contract.

6. Operations Management

Workflow Management

Complete patient journey maps for every program (enrollment, copay, PA/appeal, Quick Start, nursing, bridge, replacement, PAP)
Status tracking, tasks performed, stakeholders involved, system interactions, data captured, turnaround time measurements, quality measurements at every step
Must present patient journey for scenarios using different service providers for copay, e-PA, nursing, and pharmacy
Continuous workflow optimization throughout program life

Workforce Management

Workload and staff forecasting for all transactional teams
Daily staff adjustment provisions
Contingency plans for extreme volume scenarios
Defined trigger points and turnaround times for adding additional staff

Call Center Management

Industry best-in-class capability required
High call quality, first call resolution, optimized call duration
Automated call handling and caller self-service
Call avoidance strategies to prevent unnecessary inbound calls
Near real-time reporting on call center performance (intraday, daily, weekly, monthly)
Multi-reason call tracking per interaction
Quick retrieval of all patient records for a given HCP office

Customer Communications

Ability to send communications across all channels (fax, text, email, mail) to specific patient/HCP subsets
CRM-triggered correspondence with validation criteria (manual processes to be avoided)

7. Quality Requirements

Pharma companies require both Quality Assurance and Quality Control:

Program Quality Plan covering all Hub services
Quality/performance measures for: enrollment, eligibility determination, correspondence, all communication channels, appeals, complaints, pharmacy shipments, dispensing, shipping accuracy, remote worker monitoring
Granular reporting: Measures of central tendency AND process outliers at the patient level (not just averages)
CAPA process (Corrective Action/Preventive Action) for all significant issues
Customer complaint tracking and response for patients, caregivers, physicians, and sites of care
Pharma company reserves right to require vendor to reimburse patients for out-of-pocket expenses due to vendor errors

Key insight: Quality requirements are where the “mission-critical” nature of hub services becomes tangible. Errors directly impact patient access to therapy. This explains ConnectiveRx’s 98% customer retention — once a hub is operating well, the risk of switching (and potentially degrading quality) creates enormous switching costs.

8. Technology Requirements

CRM & Pharmacy Systems

All work must be performed within CRM or pharmacy system (no offline spreadsheets)
If hub CRM and pharmacy systems differ, must have real-time API visibility between them
Single patient identifier across all vendor systems
Digital enrollment form import, storage, and e-signature
Automated correspondence generation and image retention
Configurable system (changes via configuration, not software development)
System-generated letters within 48 business hours of request
HIPAA compliance and state data privacy law adherence

Customer Portal

Full-service web portal linked to CRM
Patient eligibility calculator for copay, PAP, nursing, access support
Online enrollment form submission (patient/caregiver or physician initiated)
Enrollment and re-enrollment status tracking
Shipment status tracking
Interactive chat with contact center agents

Data Management

Complete transparency and ownership of all program data by pharma company
SFTP and real-time API interfaces per File Interface Agreements
Daily refresh of all transactional and constituent data (including PHI) from CRM, pharmacy, phone, IVR, chat/email/social, shipment systems
Data accessible by program type, patient tenure, age, location, MSA/zip code, repeat enrollments
Insights into how data fits together and impacts business process (not just snapshots/trends)

Telephony System

Call recording for quality assurance
Retrieval of specific call recordings within 2 business days by: provider, patient, agent, or date

Key insight: EVERSANA’s ACTICS eAccess platform (90% eBV success rate, 1,400+ payer connections) and ConnectiveRx’s Hub Data Re-Platform initiative ($5.8M investment in 2022) both reflect the technology arms race driven by these requirements. The RFP’s demand for real-time API connectivity and daily data refreshes explains why hub vendors invest heavily in platform modernization.

9. Business Continuity

Process for moving staff to remote/on-site status with backup facilities
Pharmacy-specific continuity plan with defined transfer time to alternate pharmacy
System stability management across all technology
6-month advance written notice of any business changes (mergers, acquisitions, system implementations) that could impact the program

10. Reporting Requirements

Comprehensive reporting expectations include:

Monthly Management Reports (operations and financial reporting on all services)
Monthly Inventory Control Reports
Quarterly Business Reviews
Enrollment activity, trending, analysis, and actionable insights
Patient demographics with geographic analysis
Copay utilization and claims payment trending
Product utilization by indication
PA/Appeal and reimbursement tracking
Payer information (types, plan design) with trend analysis
Nursing referrals and utilization
Weekly call center reporting with daily/intraday statistics
Custom reports on request

11. Pricing & Compensation Models

The RFP requires vendors to specify:

Pricing approach for each service with recommended model variations
Standard offering vs. additional-cost services
Benefits and drawbacks of FTE staffing-based models vs. transaction-based models
Portfolio-based allocation staffing vs. dedicated staffing (with pricing for both)
Scalability approach with lead times
Cost efficiency tools and processes for fees and pass-through expenses

Key insight: ConnectiveRx’s revenue model (41% management fees, 53% transaction fees in Hub) reflects the standard pricing structure. The RFP’s request for both FTE-based and transaction-based pricing options shows pharma companies want flexibility — FTE-based for predictability during launch, transaction-based for alignment with script volumes once the drug ramps.

12. Vendor Evaluation Criteria (RFP Questions)

The second section of the RFP contains 73 detailed questions organized around:

Capabilities & Experience (Questions 1-6)

Company overview, statistics, vision/mission
Relevant experience in the specific therapeutic area and marketplace
Experience with currently marketed and in-development products
Illustrative patient journey covering all stakeholder perspectives
Detailed solutions for each audience (prescriber, patient, payer, internal)
Digital solution deployment and fallback processes

Partnerships & Third Parties (Questions 7-10)

Strategic partnerships with duration, stability, and conflict assessment
Subcontractor identification and management
Issue resolution across partner ecosystem

Competitive Advantage (Questions 11-21)

Self-identified competitive advantages
Thought leadership assets
Best practices for access, coding, billing
Clean claim best practices and time-to-therapy reduction strategies
Supplementary offerings for adherence and education
Ability to differentiate service by customer type (patients vs. HCPs vs. institutions vs. community centers)

Reporting (Questions 22-28)

Types and frequency of analytics
Custom reporting portal capabilities
Dashboard and executive-level reporting
Recommended KPIs with root cause analysis methodology

Account Management (Questions 30-31)

Strategic partnership behaviors
Best practice identification and deployment
Multi-service coordination across entities

Implementation (Questions 32)

Detailed implementation plan with timelines
IT development tasks
Onboarding and staff training plan
Definition of “great” with bottleneck identification

Program Optimization (Questions 33-37)

Efficiency and effectiveness evaluation process
Response to market events (demand changes, regulation changes, formulary changes)
Process for adding products in the same therapeutic area

Facilities & Organization (Questions 47-63)

Ownership structure and recent changes
Facility locations, capabilities, and certifications
Security measures and backup systems
IT capabilities and print-on-demand capabilities

Financials & Insurance (Questions 64-66)

Annual revenue for past two years
Pharmaceutical revenue percentage
Insurance policies and liability limits

References & Conflicts (Questions 68-73)

Three client references similar in size
Competitive conflict disclosure

Scoring Framework: What Matters Most

Based on the RFP structure and emphasis, here is a rough weighting of evaluation criteria:

Category	Approx. Weight	Key Differentiators
Technology Platform	25%	eBV success rate, ePA automation, CRM sophistication, API connectivity
Operational Capabilities	20%	Call center management, workforce flexibility, workflow automation
Therapeutic Experience	15%	Track record in relevant disease area, launch experience
Quality & Compliance	15%	CAPA process, quality metrics, error rates, regulatory compliance
Organizational Design	10%	Dedicated vs. shared staffing model, leadership quality, attrition rates
Reporting & Analytics	10%	Real-time dashboards, actionable insights (not just data), custom reporting
Pricing & Value	5%	Flexibility of model, cost efficiency tools, scalability

The critical takeaway: Technology and operational capabilities together account for ~45% of the evaluation. This is why hub vendors invest so heavily in platform modernization (ConnectiveRx’s $16M in current growth projects) and operational automation (OCR, call bots, eBV). But therapeutic experience and quality are close behind — pharma companies want a partner who understands their specific disease area and can be trusted with patient-facing interactions.

Sources

Hub RFP Requirements Template (actual pharma company RFP document, anonymized)
ConnectiveRx IC #1 and IC #2 memos (operational and financial context)
EVERSANA Patient Services Capabilities Deck 2024 (technology and capabilities context)