GoodRx, Surescripts Partner for Drug Price Transparency EHR Integration

GoodRx has partnered with Surescripts to create a clinical decision support EHR integration that enhances prescription drug price transparency.

The Surescripts Real-Time Prescription Benefit EHR integration will allow prescribers to provide uninsured patients with drug discount pricing from GoodRx.

Patients for whom price information isn’t already available from their pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) or health plan will also be eligible for GoodRx’s discounted prescription drug pricing of up to 80 percent off of pharmacy retail prices.

The health IT tool aims to foster patient-provider conversations regarding prescription drug affordability to increase medication adherence.

According to an internal GoodRx survey, approximately one in three Americans have skipped filling a prescription for a chronic condition due to cost one or more times.

“Providing prescription price transparency at the point of care is critical to improving medication adherence and ensuring patients can receive the treatment they need,” Mike Pritts, chief product officer at Surescripts, said in a public statement.

“With the addition of our drug discount pricing feature for uninsured patients as well as patients whose price information isn’t already available from their PBM or health plan, Real-Time Prescription Benefit arms prescribers with more of the information they need, so they can have meaningful cost conversations and get patients started on medication they can access and afford,” he continued.

With improved prescription drug price transparency at the point of care, prescribers will be able to have more informed conversations with their patients to ensure patients can afford the treatment they need before presenting at the pharmacy counter. After all, medication adherence is a non-starter when the patient can’t even pay for the drug.

“We are always looking for ways to increase prescription price transparency and affordability for more Americans, so we are excited to work with Surescripts to arm prescribers with the tools and information they need to choose medications that are both accessible and clinically appropriate,” said Doug Hirsch, co-CEO and co-founder of GoodRx.

Surescripts also recently announced the launch of new health IT solutions that support EHR event notifications.

An enhanced Medication History for Populations service now includes patient notifications to allow providers, including care managers, to reach out to patients experiencing gaps in care, significant care events, or medication adherence issues.

The health IT tool also offers updates for certain prescription activities. For instance, providers are alerted within their EHR system if a patient does not pick up her prescription, if no refills remain, or if a different provider prescribes a new medication to the patient.

Additionally, Surescripts’ new Care Event Notifications EHR integration issues patient hospital admission, discharge, or transfer (ADT) alerts.

As part of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) interoperability rule, hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, and critical access hospitals (CAH) are required to send electronic ADT notifications to all applicable post-acute care providers as of May 2021.

Together, these solutions aim to give clinicians greater insight into major care events for more proactive follow-up, enhanced care coordination, and improved clinical decision support.

"Healthcare interoperability alone isn't enough,” Pritts said in a public statement at the time of the announcement. “Clinical intelligence that is accurate, timely, and actionable is the next step in our journey for closing costly gaps in care.”

The event notification EHR integration gives providers access to the most up-to-date patient health information directly within their EHR workflow. Instead of waiting until a patient schedules an appointment or presents at the clinic to learn about recent care events, providers can reach out to a patient for follow-up.

"Visibility into patients' prior care events and medication history helps care teams effectively coordinate care and improve health outcomes," explained Andrew Mellin, MD, chief medical officer at Surescripts.