Providing financial assistance such as copay buy-downs and free trial offers are common practice within the pharmaceutical industry, but it’s also one of the most expensive budget line items for many brands. Providing financial assistance to patients as the nation faces the COVID-19 threat has also become a hot topic for many in the industry, as unemployment numbers skyrocket and personal earnings and individual savings rates fall. Even patients with insurance provided by large, stable employers are finding that their share of a therapy’s cost can be significantly greater than in years past, as employers and payers seek to shift costs to patients by increasing their copay and deductible amounts. The current pandemic exacerbates the negative effects of this trend, because if a patient fears that they might be facing even a temporary layoff or reduction in hours, their medication is often something many think about stopping, failing to fill, or postponing, especially if their condition is asymptomatic. If your copay assistance, free trial offer, or related programs are causing you concern for either an individual brand or for your corporate portfolio, it might be time to think about bringing in some outside help. Our recent collaboration with Prescriptive Path LLC, a consultancy founded by one of the industry’s most experienced executives when it comes to patient savings programs, might be just the help you need.

We met the founder of Prescriptive Path, Doug Gabbard, when he was managing copay programs, free trial offers, and other patient savings programs for one of our top-twenty pharma clients. We were amazed at his level of knowledge, and every time a question about savings programs came up, people in the company would almost instantly say, “We need to ask Doug!” Later, Doug was recruited to another leading pharma company to take on even more responsibility, and once again, he became the “go-to” expert for all things related to patient savings.

We weren’t surprised when Doug called us up one day to discuss starting his own company, because his ideas on how to better design, create, and manage these programs are just too good to not be shared with a wider circle. We were Doug’s first customer, connecting him with a client that needed help as they launched a new product. And WOW, have they ever been happy! So, now we’re ready to help others connect with Doug as well, through the same model we use when clients need the industry’s best and brightest in other fields. Here’s how it works:

• First, rest assured that you’re not paying more for services from Prescriptive Path than you would pay if you contracted with Doug’s firm directly. Because we can bring more business to consultancies like Prescriptive Path, and handle many of the administrative headaches that can occur when dealing with a large pharma company (sorry, but I think we all know they exist), we can work with these types of specialized, expert suppliers to offer a rate that equals that which the client would pay if they had to manage the relationship on their own.
• Also, because you’re contracting with Think Patients, you also get access to our other companies and services when you need them, either within the same contract or as an “a la carte” item that you add on if you need it. Have a question about how copay works with EHRs? We’ve got you covered. Trying to figure out how to better message physicians about your new offers? We can help with that! Need to figure out how to get all your brands to follow the same processes for these or other programs? We’re pros at getting that done!
• Finally, both we and Prescriptive Path “play nice” with any of your existing copay vendors. We don’t compete with their core services and have no desire to set up yet another copay and patient savings provider company. We just want to help YOU have a BETTER program! And remember, we’re on YOUR side, working for YOU, so YOUR best interests are what we put first in our recommendations.

If you want to learn more, just give us a shout at info@thinkpatients.com, or call us at 484-200-7900. And remember, this is the type of program you can get underway now, while you’re working remotely, and then reap the benefits of it even after you’re back in the office.