AUSTIN, Texas – July 19, 2016 – RxWiki, a rapidly growing digital health company, today announced the results of a survey revealing that the overwhelming majority of community pharmacies — 83 percent — actively search for manufacturer copay coupons to help their patients save money on their medications. Community pharmacies go above and beyond to help their patients save money, searching on Google, using coupons provided by the manufacturer or even calling the local doctor’s office to see if the doctor has any available copay coupons that can help the patient save money.
“Saving patients as much money as possible is part and parcel of our service,” said Carey Vaughan, owner of Lake Country Pharmacy & Compounding Center. “We help patients understand their condition and discuss lifestyle and diet choices. But it’s also important to help patients understand coupons that may be available to them”.
Community pharmacies are most likely to search for copay coupons upon receiving a new prescription, a prescription refill request or when they spot that the medication is very expensive.
While community pharmacies continue to search multiple sources for copay coupons, more than 70 percent would like a central resource on their own website or mobile app. Half of all community pharmacies indicate that they would be more likely to look for a copay coupon if it was easy to access on their own website or mobile app. One of the top reasons why community pharmacies say they do not look for copay coupons is that doing so is too time-consuming.
Another important way in which community pharmacies serve their patients is to make sure that patients pick up their medications. Almost all community pharmacies say they reach out to patients to remind them to pick up their medications, with 93 percent calling their patients, 35 percent texting them and 15 percent emailing them. Community pharmacies report that these efforts result in a very low no show/return to stock rate of 2 percent.
Azim Nagree, senior vice president of Customer Success, said community pharmacies play a large part in their communities.
“Community pharmacists are key pillars of their community and will always go above and beyond to ensure positive patient outcomes,” Nagree said. “As prescription medications get more and more expensive, community pharmacies are seeking out new ways to help their communities save money.”
The RxWiki survey was sent by email to 1,340 community pharmacies on July 13, 2016, and 140 community pharmacies participated – no incentives were provided. Detailed survey results can be found here.
About RxWiki
RxWiki Inc. is a rapidly growing Digital Health company connecting pharmacies and patients through its Digital Pharmacist (digitalpharmacist.com) SaaS platform and original Pharmacist written and verified content. RxWiki’s Digital Pharmacist platform powers the websites and mobile applications of 1,300 specialty and community pharmacy brands. Patients can manage their medications, complete digital refills and engage with medication adherence programs. RxWiki’s original Pharmacist written and verified content includes 20,000 original health articles, 7,500 health-related videos, 100 disease condition channels and a free “Ask a Pharmacist” service. More than 3,700 community pharmacies and national health brands syndicate this content to engage and educate their patients. The company is headquartered in Austin, Texas.
