Direct-to-patient (DTP) claims are clearly stated. Unify the prescription process and create a frictionless, branded experience that benefits patients, providers, and manufacturers. Gifthealth serves more than 7 million patients, clearly proving that DTP can be delivered at scale. The question now is not whether to pursue DTP, but how to execute it without failure.
To successfully implement DTP, pharma commercial teams must select the right partners, set the right expectations, and avoid structural failure modes that cause DTP programs to stall between objectives and initial inputs. These companies will be able to remain competitive even as consumer and regulatory expectations increase. Those who don’t will be left behind.
Why DTP programs fail
Done correctly, DTP can help patients start treatment sooner and stay on treatment longer, leading to better outcomes for both brands and providers. However, there are some common pitfalls that can stop DTP success in its tracks.
The first is the inability to secure the right partner. If DTP developers don’t understand the limitations of specialty pharma, they won’t be able to overcome them.
Fragmented infrastructure, lack of real-time data visibility, and poor first-fill transformations are also all common issues that can threaten effective implementation. Manufacturers remain connected to fragmented data and processes, resulting in data lag, delayed intervention, and loss of transparency. When patients do not receive timely support during the prescription process, medication adherence rates decrease, refill success rates decrease, and prescriber trust is undermined. All of this has a ripple effect on brand performance.
It’s important that DTP platforms don’t repeat the same mistakes of the past. Success depends on an integrated model that combines technology, real-time data, and human support. By meeting people where they are and helping them achieve the health outcomes they want, you can also improve your brand’s performance.
What we look for in a DTP partner
Successfully implementing DTP from an operational perspective requires a single partner platform that provides an integrated process from ingestion to delivery to compliance. Pharmaceutical commercial teams should look for the following features:
- API-driven orchestration replaces opaque manual processes with verifiable, auditable, timestamped steps.
- Automated benefits verification that checks insurance eligibility and patient out-of-pocket costs in real time reduces time to care while protecting continuity.
- Affordable routing that balances affordability and margin and instantly identifies the best fulfillment path with real-time prescription pricing and routing logic.
- Fulfillment visibility provides real-time insights into all prescription events, empowering brand teams to proactively address access barriers, optimize outreach, and make faster, data-driven decisions.
However, successful implementation requires more than just technical specifications. It’s also important to work with a partner who has deep knowledge of specialty pharmacy and has built a platform specifically designed to eliminate that failure mode. Capable partners know what’s good on both sides: the specialty pharmacy world program is moving away, and the DTP infrastructure is being built to replace it.
Implementation should also include clear expectations. DTP is not a “nice-to-have” add-on. This is a measurable infrastructure that can transform the prescribing process.
Evolution of DTP
The pharmaceutical industry has accepted that DTP is the future of formulation. Proven at scale to unify access, fulfillment, and patient services into one seamless solution. The next battleground is successful execution.
Models that repeat past mistakes will perform poorly and will not reach their DTP potential. Successful implementation requires the right partners, a truly unified approach, and a commitment to replacing broken systems. This is not about making the prescribing process a little better, it’s about transforming the prescribing process.
Please listen…
Want to learn more about how DTP is reshaping pharmaceutical companies’ commercial strategies? Starting June 1st, listen to the Fierce Pharma Podcast with GiftHealth Chief Commercial Officer Jeremy Richardson.
Jeremy has spent his career at the intersection of specialty pharmacy and pharmaceutical commercialization and has seen firsthand how traditional models break down for patients.
As Chief Commercial Officer at Gifthealth, Jeremy is helping build what’s next: a DTP platform that has guided more than 7 million patients to their prescriptions. He argues that for pharma commercial teams, the question is no longer whether to pursue DTP, but how to maximize its potential.
