There is now a better option that benefits both patients and pharmaceutical companies in adhering to physicians' prescribed medications.

Founded by a group of physicians and pharmaceutical veterans, OPTIMIZERx offers both patients and physicians a way to review and participate in available savings offers and free trial programs for the types of pharmaceutical therapies they need.

With higher costs being passed on to patients, even patients with traditional health insurance are finding it difficult to fill their physicians' prescribed branded medications. According to the Washington, DC-based Kaiser Family Foundation's annual surveys of employer sponsored health benefits, the average co-payment for branded preferred and non-preferred drugs rose 62 percent and 99 percent, respectively, between 2000 and 2004. As a result, one out of five insured patients decided not to fill a prescription when met with an out-of-pocket cost "surprise."

"We recognize that even if a patient has healthcare insurance, out-of-pocket costs on prescribed medication can still represent a significant drain on patient resources, especially for those patients who require multiple medications or take medication over a lengthy period of time," said Jay Pinney, MD, medical director for OPTIMIZERx. "We are concerned that patients should have affordable access to prescribed medications so that they are able to comply with their physicians' healthcare recommendations and better look after their health."

OPTIMIZERx is a first for the industry. While there are many programs aimed at assisting the uninsured, OPTIMIZERx is designed for the purpose of offering prescription savings to the majority of privately insured patients, regardless of income.

OPTIMIZERx has additional benefits for the pharmaceutical industry, including:

• Greater exposure and participation in product savings and trial offers by patients and physicians seeking them.
• Enabling affordable access to care for more patients.
• Increasing compliance and brand loyalty by helping patients better afford product's therapy.
• OPTIMIZERx provides favorable brand exposure for participating partners through the OPTIMIZERx.com Web site. According to the "MRx Health Study" published in Business Week (2006), 81 percent of patients use the Internet as their source of information.