A recent survey shows that healthcare professionals have varied feelings on the direct-to-patient (DTP) drug sale platforms increasingly being launched by pharma companies—echoing patients’ own uncertainties about these services.
The latest edition of Sermo’s Barometer Study, conducted in early December, surveyed more than 950 HCPs on a range of topics related to GLP-1 usage, including how DTP services are impacting access to the meds.
More than 90% of respondents had at least heard of pharmas offering DTP sales of weight-loss medications. When asked how the DTP model is impacting patient care, the most common response—from 60% of HCPs—was “mixed,” with respondents saying they believe the model “helps some, confuses others.” While only 8% said DTP sales are having a negative impact on patient care, less than 30% gave an all-out positive rating.
Respondents were also asked about how they predict the launch of TrumpRx will affect access to GLP-1s; the federal government is set to begin rolling out the platform this month to direct Americans to DTP platforms where pharmas are offering reduced cash-pay prices for certain drugs. Almost 70% of the surveyed HCPs said they believe TrumpRx will result in at least “some increase” in access to weight-loss meds, while 12% predicted a reduction in access.
As for what services they believe pharmas should offer through their DTP platforms, the HCPs offered a range of answers, the most common of which (39%) was that the services should only support access to medications, with prescribing left to patients’ own healthcare teams. Another 28% suggested that the platforms could provide “limited prescribing” with oversight from a patient’s provider, while 27% supported a model that offers “full patient evaluation and access to prescribers.”
In another criticism of nontraditional drug access services—including drugmakers’ programs, as well as telehealth sites, medspas and more—the surveyed HCPs suggested that those sources do not offer adequate medical supervision and follow-up care after selling patients GLP-1s. Only about a third said they were either “somewhat” or “very” confident that such care was being provided, while the other two-thirds were either “not very” or “not at all” confident.
Accordingly, many of the HCPs agreed that pharma DTP programs should offer additional services to improve continuity of care for GLP-1 users, including follow-up reports, access to nutritional support, shared clinical notes, lab coordination and access for nurse case managers.
Despite the HCPs’ reservations about pharmas’ direct sales platforms, those services were still the most popular (63%) of the self-pay pathways that they deemed clinically acceptable for patients denied GLP-1 coverage by insurance. In a distant second (38%) were retail membership programs, like those from Costco and Sam’s Club, followed by telehealth services (36%), compounding pharmacies (34%) and local weight-loss clinics and medspas (28%).