With two methods to distribute formulary alternatives, payers can increase patient satisfaction and lower costs by including credible alternatives in data used in physician prescribing. Payers are missing opportunities to better inform patients and providers and this article delves into the opportunities to improve drug alternative information as a method to lower patient and payer drug costs.
Better prescription choices result in savings for both payers and patients. Formulary data in the electronic health record (EHR) offers a frontline strategy for helping providers make prescription choices that yield savings while improving patient care, increasing patient satisfaction, and elevating payer star ratings.
Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), prescribers, and pharmacists all play a crucial but different role in communicating prescription savings opportunities to patients.
PBMs work with their clients to create plan designs and provide data to other parties that drives the electronic prescribing process. In addition, PBMs are beginning to encourage their members (patients) to join the discussion.
It’s well known that high drug costs prevent many patients from receiving the treatments they need or require patients to sacrifice other necessities to pay for their prescriptions. “Physicians see every day that costs are a major obstacle to our patients getting the right medication at the right time,” said Dr. Jack Resneck, chair of the American Medical Association board of trustees.
Health benefit consultants can help their clients save up to $88 per member per year on prescription spending by sending actionable drug data to doctors. By partnering with BenMedica, consultants can reduce their employers’ and members’ Rx costs, increase medication adherence, and improve patient outcomes.
Employers and health plans are missing significant prescription savings opportunities available today through improved formulary and benefit data. Enhancing patient benefit data leads to better information at the point of prescribing, improves drug cost management, and creates savings now for both payers and patients.
Providing actionable information on generics options to physicians using Formulary and Benefit (F&B) data creates significant savings for payers, employers, and consumers.
Physicians have been conditioned to prescribe generics as part of first-line therapies to save patients money and eliminate callbacks requesting prescription changes. But, not all generic prescribing is equal.
