Real-Time Prescription Benefit (RTPB): The Missing Link in Modern Prescribing

Patients hate surprises at the pharmacy. Clinicians hate callbacks, prior authorizations, and unclear coverage rules. And payers hate paying for medications that patients never pick up.

Real-Time Prescription Benefit (RTPB) was designed to solve this problem — but adoption is still far behind where it should be.

Here's the quick breakdown.

What RTPB Actually Does

RTPB provides real-time, patient-specific information at the moment a clinician prescribes:

• Out-of-pocket cost
• Whether a medication is covered
• Cheaper therapeutic alternatives
• Prior authorization requirements
• Pricing across different pharmacies

The goal:

• No more surprises. No more guesswork.

Why RTPB Matters

Fewer abandoned prescriptions

About 1 in 3 prescriptions never get filled.

Cost shocks are one of the biggest reasons.

Better patient adherence

When patients know the price and avoid PAs, they're more likely to start — and stay on — therapy.

Lower cost for payers & employers

Clinicians can instantly see preferred (cheaper) alternatives that maintain clinical value.

Better workflow for providers

RTPB reduces pharmacy callbacks and administrative waste.

So Why Isn't RTPB Everywhere Yet?

Despite being mandated, RTPB is still incomplete because:

• PBM data is inconsistent
• Many drugs return "no data available"
• EHR integrations vary widely
• Pharmacy data is often missing
• Prior authorization isn't fully automated

Clinicians lose trust when real-time data isn't actually real.

The Future of RTPB

The next generation of RTPB needs:

• Unified data across all PBMs
• Accurate pharmacy-level pricing
• AI-powered safe & affordable alternatives
• Closed-loop adherence tracking

When all of that works together, RTPB becomes more than transparency — it becomes a foundation for safe, affordable, fully digital prescribing.