Every day, thousands of prescriptions go unfilled. The truth is, the system rarely notices when someone never picks up that first dose. For an industry obsessed with data, that blind spot is both costly and dangerous. One company is working to change that.
Dr. Lynne Nowak, Chief Data and Analytics Officer at Surescripts, sat down with Healthcare IT Today to discuss how her team is uncovering invisible gaps in medication adherence and tackling one of healthcare’s most persistent burdens: prior authorization. The company’s approach blends real-time data with collaboration across the ecosystem.
Key Takeaways
- Making Blind Spots Visible. Most organizations have no way to know when patients don’t start new therapies. By connecting prescription and fill data, Surescripts is exposing invisible gap to clinicians and payers.
- Early Intervention Turns Data into Prevention. Surescripts’ new First Fill Abandonment solution alerts providers within days when a patient hasn’t picked up a new prescription. Early notification means preventing costly care.
- Touchless Prior Auth. Through direct collaboration with PBMs and providers, Surescripts has automated the prior authorization process for certain medications, cutting turnaround time to under 30 seconds and eliminating one of healthcare’s biggest pain points.
Making the Invisible Visible
Most health systems can’t tell when patients never start new prescriptions because no claim data exists. Surescripts’ First Fill Abandonment solution shines a light on this once-hidden problem by connecting prescription and fill data to identify when a patient needs a nudge.
“It’s really kind of a staggering statistic,” said Nowak. “Somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 to 30% of patients get a new prescription and never pick it up. Because there’s no claim, it’s invisible to the industry on who these patients are.”
Surescripts is using its systems to match prescriptions sent with fulfillment data to identify the gap.
Data That Speaks Up Before the Crisis
A patient who doesn’t fill a prescription in the first few days may end up in the ED. By alerting care teams early, Surescripts turns static data into a signal for intervention before that missed dose becomes a medical crisis.
“If a patient doesn’t pick their medication up in two days, three days, five, we can send a notification,” explained Nowak. “With that alert, providers can do an early intervention and really figure out what’s going on with that patient.”
Prior Auth Without the Pause
Ask any provider about prior authorization, and you’ll get the same groan. But Surescripts’ “touchless prior authorization” may finally ease that pain. By syncing provider and PBM data in real time, the process can now happen automatically in under 30 seconds.
“By the time that script actually hits the pharmacy, it’s already been approved,” said Nowak. “And the patient can just pick it up with no delays, no friction.”
For clinicians, this automations means fewer phone calls with the pharmacy and quicker care for patients.
When Data Closes the Gaps
Prescription abandonment, prior auth delays, unseen data gaps—they’ve long been accepted as the status quo. But Dr. Nowak’s made it clear, the technology to close those cracks already exists when organizations are willing to look at their own data critically and work together with providers.
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Learn more about Surescripts at https://surescripts.com/
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