PrescriptionsNCT04940988
Impacts of a Physician-targeted Price Transparency Tool on Medication Out-of-pocket Costs
An observational study of Prescriptions and Costs and Cost Analysis, run by NYU Langone Health at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
The goal of this study is to evaluate whether presenting patient out-of-pocket cost information to the provider at the time of prescribing leads to orders for medications with lower out-of-pocket costs. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 to 100 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Prescriptions, Costs and Cost Analysis
- What is being tested?
- Real-time benefits check
- How many people
- 21,401 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 18 Nov 2020to 30 Jul 2021
- Phase
- Observational
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 to 100 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult, Older adult
Study population: The intervention group refers to medication orders placed by prescribers when practicing in an outpatient department randomly assigned to receive the intervention, which is implementation of the RTPB tool. The control group refers to medication orders placed by prescribers when practicing in an outpatient department randomly selected to not receive the intervention.
Who may be able to join
- Medication orders for which this match and query was successful and outcomes data was available.
Who cannot join
- No patient-level exclusion criteria will be imposed
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
About this study
Official title: Impacts of a Physician-targeted Price Transparency Real Time Prescription Benefits Tool on Medication Out-of-pocket Costs
The goal of this study is to evaluate whether presenting patient out-of-pocket cost information to the provider at the time of prescribing leads to orders for medications with lower out-of-pocket costs. The Real-Time Prescription Benefits (RTPB) tool has been implemented to randomly selected providers across NYU Langone Health's outpatient physician practices. The RTPB tool provides physicians with information about patient out-of-pocket (OOP) cost for medications at the point of outpatient prescribing. OOP is inclusive of any copay, coinsurance, and deductible that the patient owes given their prescription drug benefit plan. If the physician is submitting a prescription order and a clinically-appropriate alternative with a lower OOP cost is available, an alert with OOP cost information for the drug being initially ordered as well as up to three lower-cost alternatives will be displayed. Implementation of this tool will be analyzed to see if it will lead to reduced out-of-pocket costs on ordered medications when alternatives were available. Because effects could vary along many dimensions (e.g., specialty, drug class, insurance type), secondary analyses will be conducted and stratified along such dimensions. Analyses will be conducted at the prescription order level.
- Conditions
- Prescriptions, Costs and Cost Analysis
- Being tested
- Real-time benefits check
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Real-time benefits checkOther
Also called Physician-focused medication price transparency
Prescribers practicing in outpatient departments assigned to the intervention arm will be shown popup alerts with their patient's insurance benefit design-specific out-of-pocket cost for the drug being ordered as well as out-of-pocket costs for up to 3 lower-cost alternatives if available. Alternatives will only be shown when available and when the patient and his or her benefit design information can be matched by the electronic health record system to accurately query out-of-pocket cost information.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| See alert | The intervention group refers to medication orders placed by prescribers when practicing in an outpatient department randomly assigned to receive the intervention, which is implementation of the RTPB tool. Receives: Other: Real-time benefits check | |
| Do not see alert | The non intervention group refers to medication orders placed by prescribers when practicing in an outpatient department randomly selected to not receive the intervention. |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Medication out of pocket cost per day
The primary outcome, which will be measured at the medication-order level is out-of-pocket cost per day for a drug ordered. It will be computed by dividing the out-of-pocket cost of a drug by the days supply. Data will be collected through the electronic health record.
Measured: Through study completion, an average of 1 year
Secondary outcomes (2)
Whether an order was placed for a mail-order pharmacy
A secondary outcome, also specified at the order level, is whether a drug prescription was ordered from a mail-order pharmacy, since switching to a mail-order pharmacy often presents an opportunity for savings. Data will be collected through the electronic health record.
Measured: Through study completion, an average of 1 year
Days supply
A secondary outcome, also specified at the order level, is the days supply. Data will be collected through the electronic health record.
Measured: Through study completion, an average of 1 year
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted28 Jun 2021
- Study start18 Nov 2020
- Primary completion30 Jul 2021
- Study completion30 Jul 2021
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (2)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for PrescriptionsStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by NYU Langone HealthThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Observational
- Observational model
- Cohort
- Time perspective
- Prospective
- Enrolment
- 21,401 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- NYU Langone Health
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT04940988
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- QI-RTPB
- Status last verified
- Sep 2021
- First submitted
- 18 Mar 2021
- Last updated
- 16 Sep 2021
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No
Publications
Ying R, Padmanabhan P, Szerencsy A, Mehrotra A, Horwitz LI, Desai SM. Real-Time Prescription Benefit Tool Availability and Prescription Medication Fill Rates: A Post Hoc Analysis of a Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Health Forum. 2026 Aug 7;7(8):e262739. doi: 10.1001/jamahealthforum.2026.2739.
PubMed 42599729Desai SM, Chen AZ, Wang J, Chung WY, Stadelman J, Mahoney C, Szerencsy A, Anzisi L, Mehrotra A, Horwitz LI. Effects of Real-time Prescription Benefit Recommendations on Patient Out-of-Pocket Costs: A Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2022 Nov 1;182(11):1129-1137. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2022.3946.
PubMed 36094537
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 16 Sep 2021. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Impacts of a Physician-targeted Price Transparency Real Time Prescription Benefits Tool on Medication Out-of-pocket Costs
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT04940988
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- QI-RTPB
- Conditions
- Prescriptions, Costs and Cost Analysis
- Study type
- Observational
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 21,401 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- NYU Langone HealthUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- 18 Nov 2020 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 30 Jul 2021 (actual)
- Study completion
- 30 Jul 2021 (actual)
- First posted
- 28 Jun 2021 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The goal of this study is to evaluate whether presenting patient out-of-pocket cost information to the provider at the time of prescribing leads to orders for medications with lower out-of-pocket costs. The Real-Time Prescription Benefits (RTPB) tool has been implemented to randomly selected providers across NYU Langone Health's outpatient physician practices. The RTPB tool provides physicians with information about patient out-of-pocket (OOP) cost for medications at the point of outpatient prescribing. OOP is inclusive of any copay, coinsurance, and deductible that the patient owes given their prescription drug benefit plan. If the physician is submitting a prescription order and a clinically-appropriate alternative with a lower OOP cost is available, an alert with OOP cost information for the drug being initially ordered as well as up to three lower-cost alternatives will be displayed. Implementation of this tool will be analyzed to see if it will lead to reduced out-of-pocket costs on ordered medications when alternatives were available. Because effects could vary along many dimensions (e.g., specialty, drug class, insurance type), secondary analyses will be conducted and stratified along such dimensions. Analyses will be conducted at the prescription order level.
Study design
- Observational model
- Cohort
- Time perspective
- Prospective
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| See alert | – | Other: Real-time benefits checkThe intervention group refers to medication orders placed by prescribers when practicing in an outpatient department randomly assigned to receive the intervention, which is implementation of the RTPB tool. |
| Do not see alert | – | –The non intervention group refers to medication orders placed by prescribers when practicing in an outpatient department randomly selected to not receive the intervention. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 to 100 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
- Study population
- The intervention group refers to medication orders placed by prescribers when practicing in an outpatient department randomly assigned to receive the intervention, which is implementation of the RTPB tool. The control group refers to medication orders placed by prescribers when practicing in an outpatient department randomly selected to not receive the intervention.
Key inclusion criteria (1 listed)
- Medication orders for which this match and query was successful and outcomes data was available.
Key exclusion criteria (1 listed)
- No patient-level exclusion criteria will be imposed
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Real-time benefits checkAlso: Physician-focused medication price transparencyPrescribers practicing in outpatient departments assigned to the intervention arm will be shown popup alerts with their patient's insurance benefit design-specific out-of-pocket cost for the drug being ordered as well as out-of-pocket costs for up to 3 lower-cost alternatives if available. Alternatives will only be shown when available and when the patient and his or her benefit design information can be matched by the electronic health record system to accurately query out-of-pocket cost information. | Other | See alert |
Primary outcome
Medication out of pocket cost per day
Time frame: Through study completion, an average of 1 year
The primary outcome, which will be measured at the medication-order level is out-of-pocket cost per day for a drug ordered. It will be computed by dividing the out-of-pocket cost of a drug by the days supply. Data will be collected through the electronic health record.
2 secondary outcomes
Whether an order was placed for a mail-order pharmacy
Time frame: Through study completion, an average of 1 year
Days supply
Time frame: Through study completion, an average of 1 year
Results and safety
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 16 Sep 2021.
- Derived from this study: PubMed 42599729Ying R, Padmanabhan P, Szerencsy A, Mehrotra A, Horwitz LI, Desai SM. Real-Time Prescription Benefit Tool Availability and Prescription Medication Fill Rates: A Post Hoc Analysis of a Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Health Forum. 2026 Aug 7;7(8):e262739. doi: 10.1001/jamahealthforum.2026.2739.
- Derived from this study: PubMed 36094537Desai SM, Chen AZ, Wang J, Chung WY, Stadelman J, Mahoney C, Szerencsy A, Anzisi L, Mehrotra A, Horwitz LI. Effects of Real-time Prescription Benefit Recommendations on Patient Out-of-Pocket Costs: A Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2022 Nov 1;182(11):1129-1137. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2022.3946.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
The record lists no contact. Use the official record to reach the sponsor.
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
An observational study of Prescriptions and Costs and Cost Analysis, run by NYU Langone Health at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 1 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 16 Sep 2021. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Medication out of pocket cost per day (time frame: Through study completion, an average of 1 year). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT04940988, which also lists 2 linked publications.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 16 Sep 2021.