The NRx Crisis
Our thought leadership piece for Pharmaceutical Commerce magazine.
According to IQVIA, new prescriptions for chronic therapies are at 80% of the pre-Covid-19 normal, only recovering with the start of 2021. We are further informed by these statistics:
IQVIA: Approximately 10% of visits to prescribers are telehealth visits.1
SymmetryRx: 39% of telemedicine patients are appropriate to receive drug samples.
Accenture: Pharma reps experienced a low of 35% in-person prescriber meetings during the pandemic.2
Datamonitor: 30% of patients only fill their prescription when they get a drug sample, regardless of age, income, or gender.3
New Sampling Channels Are Needed
Drug sampling is a key driver for familiarizing prescribers with drugs, beginning patient trials and starting patient adherence. Pharma manufacturers have traditionally relied on field representatives to drive the distribution of drug samples to prescribers. Though this tactic is very successful, there has been a shift in prescriber willingness or ability to meet with field reps.
Untangling the Problem
Pharma reps provide critical services to prescribers, including:
Education on proper use, risks, and benefits of medications.
Access to patient resources (educational & financial support).
In-practice drug samples
The pharma representative’s efforts, supported by brand marketing programs, create demand and interest in the brand. Prescribers who use drug samples in their practice of medicine rely on a consistent supply of samples to serve their patients.
The problem is one of reach. Decreased prescriber reach by pharma reps and the increase in patient telemedicine encounters is reducing patient access to drug samples.
Maximizing Prescriber and Patient Reach
SymmetryRx’s prescriber self-serve SampleCenter™ eSample® request platform allows Prescription Drug Marketing Act (PDMA)-compliant sample requests for ship-to-practice and direct-ship-to-patient from the manufacturer’s authorized distributor of record (ADR). The 4th-generation SampleCenter™ offers critical features that enable health systems and large group practices to easily manage sample requests in a PDMA-compliant, fully digital user experience that decreases practice inventory outages and inventory waste at the practice level. Of high importance, SampleCenter™ enables telemedicine patient access to drug samples. Additionally, practices that do not maintain sample inventory can serve all patients through the SampleCenter™ direct-ship-to-patient capability. Learn more.