Several years ago, while bored on a Saturday afternoon, I was “channel surfing” on my television and saw an infomercial for a rotisserie oven. The spokesperson, Ron Popeil, repeatedly used the tag line, “just set it and forget it” to show how easy it was. While “set it and forget it” may work when making rotisserie chicken, it does not usually get the job done when it comes to prescription prior authorizations (PA).
Providers may go through the process of completing and submitting a PA when writing the initial new prescription (NRx) for a patient. However, most PAs are approved by the plan for twelve months or less. If the prescriber has written a medication for chronic conditions, this means that the patient will not get coverage after the PA expires unless a second PA is submitted. For many of these patients, it is appropriate to continue therapy for several years. At PARx, we have found that providers resubmit PAs for their patients upon expiration only 5 or 6 percent of the time. This presents a tremendous opportunity for patients, providers, and pharma brands.
Earlier this year, PARx launched our reauthorization program. For interested sponsors, PARx provides notifications to providers a few weeks prior to a PA expiration. The notification informs the provider that a PA has been initiated in the PARx PASS system and directs the provider to complete and submit the partially completed PA. By making the reauthorization process simple for providers, this new program has produced spectacular results to date:
- Upon receiving notification from PARx of the expiring PA, 50-60% of providers resubmit a PA request.
- The PA approval rate for these second submissions is averaging 96 percent. Compared to the 5-6% submission rate without notification, this program creates thousands of additional prescriptions for our sponsor brands.
- More importantly, patients are able to continue on their chronic therapy without interruption.
When it comes to PA, providers who work with PARx can “set it and forget it,” thanks to a timely renewal reminder – and rest easy knowing their patients will continue to have access to the Rx they deem best for their treatment.
For many pharmaceutical brands, managed care restrictions put tremendous pressure on the ability for patients to access prescribed medications, even when their physicians deem a particular medication to be best suited to treat their condition. To combat this challenge, many brands have engaged third parties to implement programs designed to assist physician practices with managing the cumbersome prior authorization (PA) process. While these programs may help generate higher PA approval rates, this metric alone is insufficient in evaluating whether the program is truly beneficial to patients and impactful for the sponsoring brand. 
Talk with busy physicians and you’ll soon hear about the ever-increasing difficulty in getting approval for the medications that they believe are most appropriate for their patients. For pharma marketers, a superior efficacy, side effect and dosing profile is a necessary start, and a favorable managed care formulary position can be another positive step toward commercial success—but, more and more frequently, a prior authorization (PA) request must be approved before a medication can be dispensed and taken by the patient.