Physicians Interactive And Mckesson Announce Partnership To Provide eCoupon Solution

Clinicians and Patients to Receive Convenient Access to Medication Cost-Savings and Adherence Support via Electronic Health Records and ePrescribing 

Physicians Interactive (PI), the leading provider of online and mobile clinical resources and solutions for healthcare professionals (HCPs), and McKesson Patient Relationship Solutions (MPRS), a leading provider of pharmaceutical manufacturer sponsored patient adherence programs, are collaborating to jointly deliver eCoupon. eCoupon is one of the industry's first automated pharmaceutical voucher and coupon distribution solution for clinicians who use EHRs and ePrescribing software. The collaboration between PI and MPRS creates the opportunity to increase HCPs' access to web- and mobile-based patient adherence and support programs which will assist in their ability to optimize patient care and treatment.

"We are proud and excited to announce this collaboration with McKesson, a respected and recognized leader in the healthcare industry," said Donato Tramuto, CEO and Vice Chairman of PI.  "Our partnership will empower providers with unmatched access to a greater range of relevant patient benefits integrated directly into the point of care workflow."

Today, patient non-adherence remains a critical healthcare issue that has significant impact on a patient's quality of life as well as serious financial implications for the industry.  HCP access to eCoupon programs directly within a prescriber's workflow can improve medication adherence and enables additional support services to help patients overcome personal adherence barriers. 

"With our extensive experience in implementing comprehensive adherence programs, our partnership with Physicians Interactive accelerates our ability to appropriately add value to ePrescribing technologies," said Derek Rago, Vice President of Marketing and Strategy, MPRS. "This enables more meaningful physician-patient interactions, which has been shown to increase patient engagement that ultimately will help patients be more adherent resulting in better health outcomes."

The impact of coupons and vouchers at the point of care has been reinforced by industry research, including a recent physician survey by McKesson, which found that 70 percent of physicians emphasized the importance of sharing medication discounts at the point of prescribing as a way to promote patient adherence.  Integration and access to coupons via ePrescribing and EHRs is critical for physician adoption.  By the end of 2011, more than half of office-based physicians used ePrescribing, versus one-in-ten three years ago.  Additionally, the number of prescriptions routed electronically increased 75 percent in just one year's time, with more than 570 million electronic prescriptions dispensed in 2011.¹

About Physicians Interactive
Physicians Interactive (PI) is the leading provider of online and mobile clinical resources and solutions that fit within the medical professional workflow to provide better patient care. We use the full power of our worldwide network of healthcare professionals and life sciences companies together in ways that will change the practice and business of medicine, for the better. PI has developed a foundation of user-generated, proprietary and public data that powers a networked suite of transactional applications, including EHR-based eCoupon and messaging, eSampling, multiplatform learning programs, and mobile solutions. Physicians Interactive is a division of Skyscape.com, Inc. For more information, visit www.Physiciansinteractive.com.

About McKesson Patient Relationship Solutions
McKesson Patient Relationship Solutions (MPRS) is a unique division of McKesson Corporation focused on helping pharmaceutical manufacturers reach patients to improve acquisition and adherence for their brands. MPRS' solutions include co-pay savings and sample programs, behavioral-based patient engagement, print and digital communications, call center support, pharmacy-based patient-support programs, and much more. 

¹Surescripts.com: Clinician's Guide to e-Prescribing
a.   http://www.surescripts.com/downloads/npr/National%20Progress%20Report%20on%20E%20Prescribing%20Year%202011.pdf