RX Vitals: Sharing Your Personal Number

The prior authorization process for specialty medications often takes weeks or more due to the extensive coordination required among providers, pharmacists, and insurers. Making calls, faxing forms, and navigating fragmented communication channels significantly slow down the exchange of vital information.  

Patients are frequently left waiting for updates, leading to increased and urgent calls to providers who may also be waiting for updates themselves. 

To gain insight into patient-provider interactions during this process, we surveyed 1,000 U.S. consumers who had completed a prior authorization for a specialty medication. Here’s what they told us: 

• 41% report their doctor gave them their cell phone number to call or text 

• 75% say they’ve used it 

While healthcare providers may offer patients their personal cell phone numbers with the best intentions, it may cause more problems than it solves, contributing to delays in care and clinician burnout.  

Learn more about how the iPrescribe by DrFirst in-app dialer provides users with a more connected, seamless, and private communication experience with a new custom dial and caller ID feature.