Medication affordability remains a hot topic, and providers are continually asking for transparency into prices to lower patient costs and drive adherence. Yet, legacy solutions have surfaced unhelpful estimates, ultimately leaving providers and patients in the dark about what out-of-pocket costs will be.
DAW Systems, Inc. and Arrive Health recently partnered to change that experience for providers: giving them access to accurate, real-time prescription costs within existing workflows – costs that are accurate within one cent.
From estimates to exact costs
Before adding Arrive Health’s high-quality real-time prescription benefit (RTPB) connection, DAW Systems ScriptSure Cloud ERX users would see estimated cost ranges for prescriptions in the e-Prescribing workflow. Many times, these ranges were significant. As an example, results for one decongestant showed a patient cost range of $12.00 – $71.00. A patient may be inclined to purchase the medication at the lower end cost, but sufficiently dissuaded at the higher end cost; ultimately smaller cost ranges or exact cost is ideal.
The experience after Arrive Health’s connection went live was like night and day. One provider used Arrive Health’s RTPB solution to surface the insured cost for a nausea medication. The price they saw in workflow – $5.33 – was the exact price the patient was asked to pay at the pharmacy counter.
“This had never happened before,” said Adam Forman, DAW Systems, Inc.’s Chief Operating Officer.
The importance of accurate RTPB data
Research has continually shown the relationship between cost and adherence, which is why cost needs to be part of the provider-patient conversation. If a prescription is too expensive or not covered by a patient’s insurance, it’s possible they won’t complete the first fill, let alone any recommended refills.
“The estimated cost ranges providers used to see were creating confusing experiences, especially when patients needed high-cost medications,” explained Forman. “The process Arrive Health uses to determine costs is unique. It delivers a much better experience by giving providers accurate costs they can discuss with patients when prescribing medications.”
“The process Arrive Health uses to determine costs is unique. It delivers a much better experience by giving providers accurate costs they can discuss with patients when prescribing medications.”
– Adam Forman, COO, DAW Systems, Inc.
How Arrive Health surfaces precise costs within workflow
Arrive Health’s approach started with building a network of industry partners (EHR vendors, ePrescribing vendors, PBMs, health plans, and health systems) and significantly investing time and resources in creating a solution that delivers meaningful data providers can use.
Because of this investment, providers accessing RTPB data through EHRs and ePrescribing tools can view real-time cost information specific to the patient’s insurance with the click of a button. This empowers them to confidently identify and switch to lower-cost options that patients can afford.
What’s next for DAW Systems?
DAW Systems has already seen early results, and they are excited to leverage this level of transparency to drive patient savings and adherence. Forman added, “We can already see how often alternatives are surfaced. The next step is to drive significant behavior change, encouraging providers to use cost information in every patient interaction.”
Arrive Health’s RTPB solution is easy to implement and can run alongside existing RTPB connections. Contact us to learn more about bringing accurate cost and coverage data to your patients too.
