Talking About Prescriptions in a Direct-to-Patient Sales Reality

I’ve had migraines since childhood. About 15 years ago, I found that rizatriptan works best for me. In most of the world it’s available over the counter, but in the U.S. it still requires a prescription. Even in New York, getting in to see a neurologist isn’t easy. This year, I discovered I could order it directly from ZipHealth, and that has been a game changer. Because my migraines are infrequent, I don’t always track my supply. If my meds expire, I’m stuck. Direct access solves that problem.

We’ve gotten used to generics from ZipHealth and Hims/Hers being generally available. Now, manufacturers themselves are moving into direct sales of branded products. Eli Lilly and Pfizer are leading, with Novo Nordisk testing the waters. If the model holds, expect other pharma giants to follow, and new channels to help smaller players compete head-on.

These initiatives address two major pain points: lowering drug costs and cutting out pharmacy benefit managers. Both reshape the experience for patients and practices. For communications strategists, the question is simple: how do we talk about prescription drugs in this new reality?

The Patient Perspective

Most of us chose pharma marketing because we believe in science and in helping patients live better lives. But we’ve all heard patients say, “I saw an ad for Brand X, but my plan only covered Brand Y.” That disconnect&emdash;between what advertising promises and what patients actually get&emdash;hurts the doctor-patient relationship and the brand experience.

Direct-to-patient shifts that dynamic even further. Look at GLP-1s: get an Rx and the brand you want to show up at your door. If insurance covers it, great. If not, and patients are willing to pay, there’s still a clear path to access.

The HCP Angle

Prior authorizations eat up practice time. Direct-to-patient eliminates that hurdle for patients paying out-of-pocket, making traditional access messages less differentiating.

It also shifts the exam room dynamic. When patients walk in expecting a specific brand because they’ve seen the campaign and know they can buy it directly, HCPs need to be fluent in that messaging. If they recommend a different option, understanding what drove the patient’s request is essential to keeping the conversation collaborative.

The New Rules of the Road

DTP selling, if it scales, will fundamentally change how we communicate about prescription medicines. At P10, here are some of the things we’re recommending to our teams and our clients:

“Matching luggage” campaigns are more valuable than ever. It’s naïve to think HCPs don’t see patient advertising. Familiarity and stickiness aren’t the same, though. In a DTP world, clinicians need to understand how brands are selling to patients. The simplest way to achieve this is by aligning campaigns. Think HCP and patient work that share positioning, language, and visuals to build bridges across audiences.

Access is no longer a strong differentiator. Saying you have great coverage won’t matter if patients can buy a competitor’s product directly at a reasonable price. Instead, brands need to invest in stronger patient support programs and offer services beyond the Rx, things that are meaningful to patients and differentiating for HCPs and their practices.

Human-centric messaging is critical. We can’t tell a quality-of-life story without data, but we can elevate patient ambassadors across both HCP and patient campaigns. In crowded categories, where clinical data may not set a brand apart, ideas and creativity must. This is the moment to lean into more originality, not less.

We can be smarter about channel strategy. You don’t need to tell the whole brand story in every piece of creative. Use your data to identify where audiences are before they’re ready to act, then intercept them with the right message to move them through the funnel. It’s a mindset shift, from patient journey to buying journey, and smart executions can make the difference.

Community counts. We know that we cannot control our whole brand narrative, as social media and online communities shape our stories and our archetypes. Monitor this content closely and look to separate the signal from the noise during this market shift. What people are saying about you and your competitors matters.

The shift is happening fast. Brands that think ahead, adapting strategy to this new buying model, will be the ones that win in the direct-to-patient era.