Podcast Breaks Down How Surescripts Is Improving the Prescribing Process for Patients, Prescribers and Pharmacists

Surescripts VP and Chief Medical Information Officer Andrew Mellin, MD, MBA, recently sat down with the hosts of the #HCBiz Show! podcast to talk about how the Surescripts Network Alliance is shedding light on price transparency and taking friction out of the prescribing process with Surescripts Real-Time Prescription Benefit.

Patients and prescribers are getting smarter about price transparency as prescription drugs eat up an increasing share of healthcare costs. Among the major healthcare sectors, spending growth is projected to be fastest for prescription drugs, averaging 6.3 percent for 2017-2026, outpacing total healthcare spending that is estimated at 5.5 percent. On top of cost concerns, prior authorization is another roadblock to medication adherence.

Since Surescripts Chief Executive Officer Tom Skelton last joined the podcast show in September 2018, the number of prescribers using Real-Time Prescription Benefit has skyrocketed from 75,000 to 270,000 physicians. And today, that number is close to 300,000.

“One of the things that has become very important for patients is understanding the cost of prescriptions,” Mellin explained. “There are all kinds of reasons about why that’s important [but] cost is usually the number one reason for patients to have non-adherence to medication.”

“[With Real-Time Prescription Benefit] patients are saving money, physicians are improving their interactions, and it’s a much more efficient workflow because physicians are not doing rework that they had to do before.”

Learn more about how Real-time Prescription Benefit is saving patients, prescribers, and pharmacists, time and hassle.