A growing number of insurers and health systems are offering tools that give doctors drug pricing information in real time, but the uptake has been slow, NPR reports with Kaiser Health News.
Between the lines: The pricing tool, which shows how much patients will pay out of pocket for a given drug, aims to help them avoid sticker shock once they go to fill their prescriptions.
- It also allows doctors to find cheaper alternatives when available.
- The goal is to help prevent patients from declining to pick up their prescriptions because they can't afford them.
Yes, but: Some doctors don't want to get bogged down in conversations about drug prices, and the tools themselves are limited by the secretive nature of the price negotiation process.
