New Decision Support Tools Enable Informed Prescribing at the Point-of-Care

The price of a medication is a major factor in a patient’s willingness – or ability – to adhere to their prescribed treatment plan. But unlike nearly every other product a consumer might purchase in their typical day, the price of a medication is often unknown until checking out at the pharmacy counter.

While legislation is driving much of the urgency around price transparency, patients still reach the pharmacy not knowing what they might owe, and care teams must deal with the additional work and frustration of getting patients on affordable treatment plans. Fortunately, there has been a recent push for decision support tools to make the prescribing process more seamless and transparent. These tools are often described as Real-Time Prescription Benefit (RTPB), and can bring coverage information to EHR workflows, allowing providers to have informed conversations with their patients about the cost of medications – before they reach the pharmacy.

In order to more deeply understand what impact price transparency can have on the patient and provider experience, RxRevu commissioned a survey of providers to look at their current use of prescription decision support tools, what information they want at the point-of-care, and how they would benefit from having best-in-class RTPB solutions.

Not surprisingly, 88% of those surveyed want pricing and coverage information at the point-of-care in order to discuss affordable medication options and alternatives with their patients. However, only 11% of providers surveyed find their EHR’s current prescription decision-making tools to be helpful. Shockingly, more than three-quarters of those surveyed (77%) said that they must frequently change, manage, or resend a prescription order once it has been sent to the pharmacy.

The survey results demonstrate that simply having access to pricing information is not enough, since not all RTPB solutions are created equal. While some tools display patient-specific medication costs to providers, others show more vague, obsolete information. There is clearly confusion in the industry about what price transparency tools should accomplish.

RTPB tools are essential – and becoming mandatory – in making price transparency a reality, but building a strategy around medication costs and pharmacy is only the first step. As payer data becomes more readily available, healthcare leaders must consider how to effectively inform providers with accurate data to allow for better point-of-care interventions. Good data can maximize behavior change and improve the overall quality of care. While this new survey demonstrates the need for prescription pricing at the point-of-care, leaders need to think about where this trend is heading and how to best prepare for a more transparent future.

While there are a number of RTPB vendors in the market, RxRevu works closely with health systems, PBMs, and EHR vendors to deploy the most accurate, seamless, and reliable RTPB solutions available. Their team is able to turn on RTPB in an average of 8 IT hours, at no cost to the health system.  And with direct connections to PBM data sources, pricing information displayed at the point-of-care is not only patient-specific, but it takes into consideration copay, deductible, and coverage status, and is the actual price a patient will pay at the pharmacy. RxRevu also fills coverage gaps left by other RTPB vendors to improve the provider workflow, reduce pharmacy callbacks, and create a more positive prescribing experience.

Download the full whitepaper to learn more about the current state of prescription decision support technology and how best-in-class RTPB tools can improve the prescribing workflow.

To learn more about RxRevu’s price transparency solutions, please visit RxRevu.com.
 

RxRevu is on a mission to improve healthcare through more informed, consistent, and frictionless prescription decisions. Their fully-integrated solution displays cost-effective medication options in the EHR, allowing clinicians to select affordable alternatives based on a patient's specific coverage and benefit information. To learn more about RxRevu, please visit RxRevu.com.