“The groundwork for all happiness is good health.” – Leigh Hunt.

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Tina Rydland

Where It All Started: A Passion for People, Data, and Better Care

In the early 90s, I began my career at one of the first pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), partnering with medical directors and pharmaceutical companies to improve outcomes for employers and their members. Even then, I saw the power of combining data, clinical care, and compassion to help thousands of people at once and I knew this was the work I wanted to do.

That experience led me to pharmacy school at the University of Minnesota, where I focused on pharmaceutical care and healthcare economics. We studied the risks facing patients on multiple medications and the unnecessary costs driven by poor coordination.

I saw early on that bringing pharmacists closer to patients and physicians could prevent harm, improve outcomes, and reduce costs. While in school, I continued working in the PBM space applying clinical and economic insights in real time.

 

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Milestone #1: Innovation from Within - Building What Others Said Wasn’t Possible

After Pharmacy School graduation, I made it my mission to bring true pharmaceutical care into the PBM industry—connecting pharmacists directly with patients and their physicians to improve outcomes and reduce unnecessary cost.

One of the proudest achievements of my career was co-developing and launching a medication management program that became a cornerstone for federal employees and their families. That program—now known as Patient-Centered Care (PCare)—still serves more than 30,000 people each year.

We didn’t just manage claims—we supported real people. By aligning pharmacists, patients, and prescribers, we improved outcomes and reduced avoidable costs. It was early proof that when care teams are supported—and not buried in administrative friction—both care and cost improve.

 

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Milestone #2: Expanding Impact Through Data and Integrity

At the same time, I was managing high-cost claim reviews, financial forecasting, utilization analytics, and fraud, waste, and abuse (FWA) efforts. One project I’m especially proud of helped prevent widespread opioid misuse through proactive policies, doctor-member communication tools, and early interventions - not just law enforcement. We tracked patterns, identified bad actors, and protected members with dignity and compassion. This FWA program provided a framework for what's now mandated by CMS. Unfortunately, even at that time the broader system was complaisant to the potential for widespread harm to the public and the problem grew to an epidemic.  This work was built through years of hands-on trial, refinement, and real-world application - ultimately establishing my expertise in pharmacy analytics and fraud, waste, and abuse.

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This reinforced a key principle: data should flow to support care and not sit inside opaque systems that delay decisions and obscure the full picture.

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Milestone #3: Learning the Other Side - What Really Happens in the Big Carriers

Eventually, I pivoted and left the PBM and joined UnitedHealth Group care management division to learn from the inside. I consolidated failing disease management programs into scalable, low-touch tools. I partnered with specialty pharmacy teams to develop integrated member engagement strategies. During this time, I saw the rise of OptumRx and how vertically integrated pharmacy services had the potential to impact cost and care.  This gave me significant visibility into the inner workings of insurance carrier's care management and pharmacy services and life long connections to smart people.  It was eye-opening— and reaffirmed my belief that while many insurance care management programs sound good, they didn't always work.  What was unique about PCare, is that members and doctors trusted the pharmacists and we solved problems that were also important to them.  It became clear: care is local, and value is created at the point of care - but the system was built to pay intermediaries instead of supporting providers.  

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Milestone #4: Taking the Leap - Becoming a Trusted Consultant Across the Supply Chain

In consulting, I saw the full fragmentation of the system. Employers were funding layers of vendors, networks, and administrators—while the providers delivering care remained under-supported and disconnected from payment.

I focused on helping employers move closer to the source of value—not by stepping into the patient-provider relationship—but by contracting more directly with high-value providers and care teams.

This allowed for better alignment: supporting prescribers in making clinically appropriate, cost-effective decisions, improving access to needed medications, and ensuring providers were paid fairly and promptly for the care they deliver.

It also meant helping employers navigate ultra-high-cost therapies by accessing all available funding mechanisms—because without that coordination, both patients and plans are left with unsustainable costs.

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Milestone #5: Putting It All Together - Designing Smarter Care for Real People

That’s when I founded RxClarity.

I didn’t build it to add another layer; I built it to remove them.

Today’s system is built on opaque claim processing, fragmented data, and misaligned incentives. Employers are paying for care, but too much of that spend is diverted to intermediaries who are not directly contributing to patient outcomes.

At RxClarity, we help employers realign their strategy, contracting closer to high-value providers and care teams, supporting better clinical and financial decisions, and ensuring data flows in a way that enables timely, transparent payment for care.

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In pharmacy, this is critical. With therapies often exceeding $100,000 per year, employers must actively work with prescribers to access all available funding, use the most cost effective treatments, send prescriptions to lower cost pharmacies - ensuring patients receive the most appropriate treatment at the lowest possible cost to the employer and the patient.  

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This is how we begin to shift the system away from opaque pricing and administrative burden, and toward transparent, value-based care.

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Care should be local.
Prices should be visible.
Data should support decisions - not hide them.

And employers should be paying for care - not layers.  

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