Survey identifies what doctors and patients want from support programs

The best patient support programs provide for patient access, support continuity of therapy, and help providers and patients navigate affordability and coverage, according to a new survey from Spherix Global Insights.

“We started doing this patient service dynamics research a couple of years ago to get a sense of what's working in patient services and how pharmaceutical companies can improve the programs for their services and get a sense of ways to do better," said Sybil Mead, market access vice president at Spherix. “We measure satisfaction levels for all of those stakeholders involved, how happy they are with what's being offered to them, whether it's easy to work with, whether they are meeting their needs, and whether they’re happy with the level of programming that they're getting.”

Spherix surveyed more than 500 physicians and other healthcare providers, including office managers, biologic coordinators, and other office staff, and more than 600 patients and caregivers. The 2026 Patient Services Dynamix survey asked about the real-world experiences with 51 branded patient support programs across 66 indications.

Different stakeholders, however, are looking for different information and different types of support. For example, providers place value on services that reduce administrative efforts for prior authorization, while patients place greater emphasis on understanding coverage and affordability and receiving ongoing support.

Additionally, physicians said patient assistance programs, copay programs, and drug samples are among the most important services, while patients value refill reminders and bridge and starter programs and insurance counseling.

Within the oncology area, nursing support drives satisfaction across patients and providers, the survey found. Across brands treating immunological/autoimmune disorders, bridge and starter kits emerge as a driver of satisfaction among both providers and patients.

For therapies within rare and orphan diseases, nursing support and prior authorization/reauthorization assistance services are associated with physician satisfaction, while refill reminders and bridge and starter programs are more important for patients.

Mead said there are several commonalities for a successful patient program. “It’s important to be proactive, such as having renewal reauthorization alerts before prior authorizations are happening and making sure to integrate this workflow for electronic benefit verifications and electronic prior authorizations into provider systems.”

Estimates suggest requesting prior authorizations costs providers $20 to $50 per hour and takes an average of 13 hours per week, according to CMS. CMS has mandated that prior authorization become electronic by January 2027 with the goal of reducing the burden on providers and speeding up approvals.

Incorporating prior authorization in EHRs

Some pharmaceutical manufacturers have already begun to incorporate prior authorization into electronic health records. With the autoimmune space, providers say that Pfizer has a “solid interface” that communicates data through the EHR for Cibinqo (abrocitinib), which is used for atopic dermatitis, and finds the Spherix survey.

Brands with an e-benefit verification are Novartis’ Cosentyx (secukinumab) for plaque psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis and Pfizer’s Velsipity (etrasimod) for ulcerative colitis. Brands that lead on electronic prior authorization include Takeda’s Entyvio (vedolizamab) for ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease; Pfizer’s Litfulo (deuruxolitinib) for alopecia; and AbbVie's Humira (adalimumab) for rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis.

Within oncology, providers said that Pfizer’s Orgovyx (relugolix) for prostate cancer and Johnson & Johnson’s Tecvayli (teclistamab-cqyv) for multiple myeloma provide a seamless network for prior authorization into the providers’ workflow, and providers said that the Rituxan Rx Dashboard is called an industry benchmark. Rituxan (rituximab) is marketed by Genentech and Biogen.

Within rare drugs, providers said that Alexion’s Ultomiris provides streamlined workflows for prior authorization. Ultomiris (ravulizumab‑cwvz) is approved for four rare diseases, including generalized myasthenia gravis.

“Real-time benefit tools are helpful for providers, and integration with the EHR system is really important," Mead said. “Transparency is also important to be able to immediately see the programs that are available.”

Mead said managed care companies and pharmacy benefit managers should have an understanding of pharmaceutical companies’ patient access programs, especially with regard to prior authorization. “The office staff are a big part of providing patient support. They are coordinating the programs they're doing with the prior authorizations, implementing the programs, and providing nursing support, and they are coordinating with the payers,” she said.