New regulation requires that health systems list pricing for their most common ‘shoppable’ services. However, discrepancies in these prices are common, making many price transparency initiatives fall flat. Meanwhile, prescription price transparency initiatives have taken hold with new technologies allowing physicians to see accurate medication costs at the point-of-care, in real-time. In this way, true price transparency is possible. With the right tools in place, physicians can view patient and pharmacy-specific information, and have confidence in the medication choices they make for their patients.
So why implement prescription price transparency tools today? Here are our top five reasons why you need to prioritize prescription price transparency at your organization:
1) Patients are demanding it.
For years, patients have demanded the healthcare experience align with other consumer experiences. They feel empowered by knowing the cost of their medications upfront, and will often shop for lower prices when it comes to their care.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced millions to be more cost-conscious and financially aware, and surveys have shown that patients hope to decrease their prescription drug spending over time. This makes it more important than ever that physicians have conversations with patients about medication options.
Lastly, research has shown that price is the number one driver of medication non-adherence. By providing prescription pricing data upfront, physicians can help avoid sticker-shock, increase medication adherence, and improve overall patient health.
2) Providers are requesting it.
RxRevu research shows that physicians overwhelmingly desire better cost and coverage information at the point-of-care. The majority of surveyed providers do not find their EHR’s prescription information accurate or helpful, and over three-quarters reported needing to change, manage, or resend a prescription order once it was sent to the pharmacy – wasting valuable time that could be better spent with patients.
In many cases, physicians order medications without confirming patient coverage information. Additionally, some physicians search for coupons or discounts outside of the EHR, creating a disjointed, friction-filled prescribing process. Physicians want more accurate data to allow for better patient conversations and to drive more informed decision-making.
3) Prescription price transparency can streamline operations and drive revenues.
Prior authorization clearance and pharmacy callbacks take valuable time away from care teams, who could otherwise be interfacing with patients. With accurate cost and coverage data presented in workflow, teams can more easily avoid administrative hassles and reduce operational tasks.
Best-in-class prescription price transparency solutions can include reporting mechanisms that allow you to reduce prescribing variability, increase on-formulary and generic prescribing, and drive revenues through ideal fulfilment options. Combined with robust analytics, your teams can understand what’s working and what isn’t, and tweak your strategy to improve behaviors over time.
Lastly, offering price transparency and low-cost medication options is a potential “brand boost” as you market your organization in your region.
4) The move to value-based care is imminent.
There is no stopping the transition to value-based care. Prescription price transparency can play an integral part of that transition, as it can allow care teams to provide high-quality (clinically-relevant), low-cost (covered) medication options for patients.
While there are many factors that might influence your value-based contracts, improving medication adherence can help you meet numerous quality-based incentive programs.
5) Interoperability and price transparency mandates are coming fast!
CMS has put its weight behind price transparency and interoperability policies. Many rules have been proposed that require posting prices for common services and disclosures of coverage for consumer awareness. These rules provide tailwinds that show no signs of slowing – and complete transparency is going to be an imperative in the near future.
In the prescription space specifically, new rules mandate that EHRs and Part D plans offer ‘real-time benefits comparison tools’ to allow physicians – and eventually patients – access to real-time medication pricing information. Again, these rules are just the beginning of a trend toward complete price transparency requirements for all healthcare stakeholders.
It is clear that prescription price transparency is a necessary – and soon-to-be mandated – capability. But while many organizations have implemented prescription price transparency solutions, not all are created equal. It is essential that healthcare leaders consider the scope of the data being shown to understand if they have vast or partial patient coverage connectivity, as well as the accuracy of the data, to know if they are displaying patient-specific prices or general pricing estimates.
RxRevu, the industry leader in real-time price transparency, provides accurate, fully-integrated tools to enable informed decision-making at the point-of-care, and is excited to support the move to a fully transparent healthcare system. To learn more about how RxRevu can help you develop your complete price transparency strategy, reach out today.
As featured on Fierce Healthcare.
