Diplomat taps David Skomo as CastiaRx COO

Diplomat Pharmacy has named David Skomo COO of CastiaRx following the retirement of Chris Luthin. CastiaRx, a division of Diplomat, is a pharmacy benefit manager that helps healthcare payers manage specialty pharmacy costs.

Previously, Luthin and Skomo worked closely to develop differentiated solutions for payers for their pharmacy and specialty benefit challenges.

Skomo joined CastiaRx in 2018 as a member of the leadership team, most recently serving as the senior vice president of PBM operations. During the past 14 months, Skomo has applied his considerable skills and industry knowledge to transform key operational areas of the company, notably mail-order prescription fulfillment and contact-center operations, the company said.

"Dave has been instrumental in transforming our mail-order business and contact-center operations to meet and exceed industry standards," Diplomat CEO Brian Griffin said. "His impressive background of leading process improvement and offering guidance to enable technology-based solutions has already been a great asset to CastiaRx."

With more than 25 years of pharmacy experience, Skomo's career includes leadership roles in PBM, specialty pharmacy, and clinical arenas. He is well-versed in CastiaRx processes and thoroughly understands pharmacy operations and benefit management, the company said.

"Throughout my career I've had the opportunity to gain incredible experiences in the industry," Skomo said. "I have managed operations for CVS Caremark, and I've been part of operational leadership teams for BriovaRx specialty pharmacy and OptumRx. These positions have provided a broad knowledge base that I look forward to continuing to apply to benefit CastiaRx."