DRX Trends

DRX in the Chicago Tribune - "6 Ways to Spend Less on Health Care"

DRX was featured in this week's Chicago Tribune health section, in "6 Ways to Spend Less on Health Care":

Switching to generic drugs is one of the easiest ways to save, especially now that some big-name medications, such as Lipitor, have gone generic. Some brand-name drugs don't have a generic clone but do have a therapeutic equivalent, which is in the same class of drugs but is a little different chemically. You can look up generics and therapeutic equivalents at http://www.drx.com (or through your insurer's Web site) and also see how much you can save by using mail order. Ask your doctor about lower-cost alternatives.

You can read the full article here. 

DRX in the Wall Street Journal - "Goodbye, Lipitor. Pfizer Bids a Farewell"

DRX was mentioned in yesterday's Wall Street Journal: 

Pfizer says it cut the price of Lipitor to compete with generics, and by offering the price rebates, reached deals with 50 health plans that agreed to sell Lipitor instead of a generic version. The median price of a generic is $2.89 per 10-milligram tablet, down from $3.36 that a branded tablet cost a year earlier, according to DRX, Inc., a health-care pricing technology firm.

You can read the full article, "Goodbye, Lipitor. Pfizer Bids a Farewell" (Jonathan Rockoff, 5/9/12), here.

DRX in HealthPlanMarkets

DRX was mentioned in the most recent edition of HealthPlanMarkets (2012, Issue #3):

Most U.S. Doctors Ignore Older Patient Meds

Hartford Foundation just found in a survey that one-third of older adults say doctors didn’t bother to review all their medications, and most doctors do not provide any prevention services at all for seniors. That could be costly: About 75 percent of all premium drugs on the market today have a lower-cost alternative, according to DestinationRx (DRX), which helps over 5 million get discounts on common prescriptions. The survey finds that some 54 percent of older people surveyed by the foundation had never even heard of the Medicare wellness visit while another 14 percent weren’t sure if they had. Only 2.3 million seniors out of a total 35 million with traditional Medicare coverage took advantage of wellness visits last year. Did that make them mad at their doctors? Way over 90% said they are still satisfied with their doctor’s performance.

 

Consumers Saved Nearly $1.3 Billion on Prescription Drugs with DRX DrugCompare Tools in 2011

A recent DRX analysis of user activity shows that DRX's DrugCompare online prescription drug comparison tools helped consumers save an estimated $1.3 billion in 2011- a $300 million increase over 2010. This savings was realized from a total potential savings of $11.8 billion, had all users acted on the information provided by DrugCompare, the most well recognized therapeutic alternative database in the market.

You can read the full press release here.

The statin Lipitor^® was the top drug searched (> 587,200 searches), while the top drug by projected annual savings was the anti-ulcer agent Carafate^® (estimated savings of $72.1 million).

In 2011, the top five drugs by search volume were:

• Lipitor^® (> 587,200 searches)
• Lexapro^® (> 224,000 searches)
• Synthroid^® (> 216,100 searches)
• Cymbalta^® (>207,000 searches)
• Adderall XR^® (>188,800 searches)

The top five drugs by projected annual savings were:

• Carafate^® (estimated savings of $72.1 million)
• Lipitor^® ($49.7 million)
• Adderall XR^® ($37.2 million)
• Adderall^® ($28.6 million)
• Wellbutrin XL^® ($26.0 million)

Last year, DrugCompare users realized an estimated $1 billion in savings, with a total of $13 billion in potential savings had all acted on the information. The top drug categories in 2010 by request and potential savings were statins and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), with Lipitor^®, pantoprazole, Crestor^®, and Nexium^® leading.

Currently, DrugCompare covers 100 therapeutic classes, or nearly 85% of the top 200 pharmaceutical drugs sold in the United States.  

DRX’s Jeff Yaniga to Speak at Next Week’s Medicare Marketing and Enrollment Conference

Jeff Yaniga, DRX’s Vice President of Custom Client Services, will be speaking at next week’s Medicare Marketing and Enrollment Strategies Conference in Orlando. 

Jeff, who has helped DRX deploy some of the most highly trafficked integrated member tools in the industry, will take part in a panel discussion focusing on how to utilize technology to successfully drive Medicare enrollment and retain beneficiaries. His panel, “Marketing to the +65s in a Digital World,” will be held on Thursday, March 22^nd at 4:30 pm.

You can view the full conference agenda here.

See you in Orlando!

Who: Jeff Yaniga, VP of Custom Client Services, DRX

What: “Marketing to the +65s in a Digital World” Panel Discussion

When: Thursday, March 22^nd, 4:30pm

Where: Medicare Marketing and Enrollment Strategies Conference, Orlando, FL

DRX Partners with Colibrium to Give Clients Full Spectrum of Plan Comparision, Enrollment & Retention Tools for Under-65 and Over-65 Markets

DRX and Colibrium Partners, LLC have entered a partnership to promote each other's respective solutions for health plan comparison and enrollment, providing health plans with a full spectrum of industry-leading tools to acquire and retain members in both the under-65 and over-65 markets.

You can read the full press release here.

Focused on the under-65 market, Colibrium's Tuo(R) product suite is an end-to-end sales service and wellness solution that allows business users to reach and interact with brokers, groups, consumers and members during their entire lifecycle, on their desired channel, to drive retention, cross-selling and wellness programs.

In the over-65 market, DRX's PlanCompare tools for Medicare plan comparison and enrollment are licensed by the government, America's leading health plans, insurance field marketing organizations, brokers and call centers to help potential members with the decision-making process around Medicare plan selection and enrollment. This award-winning technology has been used to enroll over 10 million Medicare beneficiaries to date.

DRX Technology to Power New Retiree Healthcare Exchange for Large Employers

In late-January, HR Policy Association announced the launch of RHA Direct®, their new retiree healthcare exchange solution for large employers. RHA Direct is currently the only retiree exchange offering guaranteed access to all retirees and their family members regardless of individual health status, age, employer subsidy, or geographic location. 

Powered by DRX PlanCompare technology, RHA Direct will provide members the ability to view, compare, and then enroll in plans from an array of competing carriers offering coverage options to Medicare-eligible retirees. With guaranteed access, no minimum employer contribution, and guaranteed issue pre-65 benefits, RHA Direct offers a new way to deliver retiree healthcare coverage.

As we move through 2012 and beyond, DRX will continue to grow the Company’s suite of products and services, which are valued by carriers and advocates of beneficiaries alike, in the rapidly growing retiree healthcare market. 

You can read the full press release here.

For more information on DRX’s suite of products, please contact todd.petersen@drx.com.

DRX in "Save Thousands in 15 Minutes or Less" on MSN Money

More of DRX in the news:

Those looking for savings advice on MSN Money will find the DRX website (under our former name, DestinationRX) featured in "Save thousands in 15 minutes or less," an article contributed by Kiplinger's Personal Finance.

Patients who want to keep more money in their pockets can use DRX's DrugCompare technology--whether directly through the DRX website, through Medicare.gov, or through the web portals of plan carriers who have licensed the technology--to identify generic equivalents to their existing prescription medications. By switching to an appropriate, lower-cost generic alternative, patients can potentially save hundreds of dollars per year or more. Health plans also reduce their costs.

You can read the full article here.

 

DRX Launches iPad Mobile Field Enrollment App for Medicare Clients

Large Medicare plan sponsors process hundreds of thousands of paper-based enrollments annually, at a cost that can exceed $100 per application. DRX’s new iPad Mobile Field Enrollment app offers plan carriers and their in-field Medicare sales agents a compliant, easy-to-use enrollment solution that eliminates costly hand processing and streamlines both the sales and enrollment process. Overall, this translates into significant cost savings and a better experience for consumers.

Key features include:

• Electronic capture and submission of enrollment information directly from the iPad, eliminating the redundancies of paper submissions.
• Offline availability to facilitate plan comparison and enrollment when an Internet connection is unavailable at the point of sale.
• Immediate detection of input errors or missing information, eliminating carrier processing delays.
• Automatic updating of plan data.
• Reporting of enrollment activity, including completed enrollments and utilization metrics.
• Full compliance with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regulations.

New enrollment screen shot - DRX iPad Mobile Field Enrollment app

During a pilot test this past annual election period (AEP), Senior Market Sales used the DRX Mobile Field Enrollment tool to collect field agent enrollments for Medicare plans offered by Coventry Health Care.

What were some of the benefits they found?

• Senior Market Sales agents found that the tool significantly reduced the time required for agents to complete applications and collect commissions. Further, they estimated that the time savings would allow them to see 20% more clients each week.

• Coventry Health Care reported that the tool decreased Medicare application processing time by one full day, yielding significant cost savings. In addition, because enrollment applications were submitted completely and correctly, Coventry clients enjoyed faster approval of their applications.

Successful enrollment screen shot - DRX iPad Mobile Field Enrollment app

For more information or licensing inquiries, please contact Todd Petersen at todd.petersen@drx.com.

DRX’s Jim Yocum in Kiplinger’s Personal Finance

When popular drugs come off-patent, some patients might be surprised to find that brand-name costs can be competitive with the price of the new generics. DRX’s Executive Vice President, Jim Yocum, recently spoke to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance about what the loss of Lipitor’s patent has meant for prices:

When a generic is introduced, it typically sells for about 10% to 15% less than the average wholesale price for the brand-name drug. That held true when Lipitor came off-patent, says Jim Yocum, of DRX, which creates drug-comparison tools for insurers and consumers. But if you have insurance, your out-of-pocket costs are based on the insurer’s pricing tier for the drug -- with the unusual twist that you might pay the same for Lipitor as you’d pay for the generic.

Most health plans have three tiers of drug pricing. You may pay $10 per month or 10% of the cost of drugs in Tier 1 (primarily generics), $20 per month or 40% in Tier 2 (preferred brand-name drugs), and $40 per month or 60% in Tier 3 (nonpreferred brand-name drugs). In 2011, most plans included Lipitor in Tier 2. Since then, many plans have switched it to Tier 1. Indications are that Pfizer has been using rebates to retain market share, says Yocum. Check the pricing for your own plan; some plans have moved Lipitor to Tier 3, making it more expensive.

You can read the full story, "Brand-Name Lipitor at Generic Prices," here.