Multiple major players in the healthcare space are teaming up to improve overall price transparency in the prescribing process.
Spearheaded by Surescripts, the collaboration includes pharmacy benefit managers (CVS Health and Express Scripts) and EHR vendors (Cerner, Allscripts, Epic, GE Healthcare, Aprima Medical Software and Practice Fusion).
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Their joint effort results in what Surescripts calls the Real-Time Prescription Benefit tool. The company is also expanding its prior authorization solutions.
Through the joint effort, prescribers will be able to see what a specific medication will cost a patient based on their health plan. The tool will also show alternatives to the drug prescribed. The prescriber can complete any prior authorization within the EHR workflow. Finally, the prescription is sent to the pharmacy and the patient can pick it up.
Via email, Surescripts CEO Tom Skelton said the path to developing this tool took place over multiple years. He continued:
It’s really been a natural evolution of our network based on the progress we’ve made with e-prescribing over the past 16 years. We had to build out e-prescribing and reach critical mass to ensure the market was ready before we could start adding on enhanced functionality like this. Building a network like this requires allied and committed partners, and we’ve been overwhelmed by the interest in this from across markets.
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Lynne Nowak, vice president of clinical and provider solutions at Express Scripts, voiced similar thoughts, noting that her company has been working with Surescripts for quite some time to make this initiative possible.
Due to the tool, Nowak said Express Scripts can simplify the process for physicians in their EHR workflow.
“This is information we have made available to our members for years through our mobile app and website, but now with Real-Time Benefit Check, physicians can receive patient-specific information and pricing information from our system directly into their EHRs, within seconds of entering a medication name,” she said via email.
Nowak added that the tool eliminates administrative burden from physicians and allows patients to obtain appropriate and cost-effective medications while also cutting down on wait time. For plan sponsors, a major benefit includes improved provider and patient satisfaction.
The Real-Time Benefit solution already went through a yearlong pilot process. During it, participants like Express Scripts and CVS produced 3.75 million transactions through which price data was sent to prescribers in real time.
Earlier this year, Arlington, Virginia-based Surescripts reported that in 2016, it processed 10.9 billion transactions, including 1.6 billion electronic prescriptions.
Photo: Devrimb, Getty Images
