Advanced Pharmacy Concepts is a relatively small company with a broad base of national customers, analyzing and auditing pharmacy-benefits management. The work involves pharmacy-benefits consulting, pharmacy-benefits management compliance auditing, clinical pharmacy analysis, quality measures and federal government programs such as Medicare.

“Everyone understands the mission. We are very customer focused, and we do whatever needs to be done,” said David Fetherston, vice president of marketing at the firm. The focus is on the team, not the individual or hierarchy, he said.

The company offers flexible hours to workers and promotes on the basis of performance and the needs of business, often from within. The company has built its reputation on intellectual capital. It’s the first time that Advanced Pharmacy Concepts has been recognized as one of the Best Places To Work in Rhode Island by Providence Business News.

Advanced Pharmacy Concept’s particular area of specialization requires key skill sets that are often difficult to find in its geographic area, including pharmacists, doctors of pharmacy and registered pharmacists. “As a result, we welcome candidates from all ethnicities, veteran status and physical capabilities,” Fetherston said.

Advanced Pharmacy Concepts puts great value on respect of employees in the workplace. “We have a very experienced group of employees. There’s a lot of mutual respect for what we’ve achieved, individually and collectively,” Fetherston said.

This respect carries over to its customers. “We can really speak to the issues that our clients are dealing with, because many of the workers have lived through it ourselves,” Fetherston said. •