{"id":146740,"date":"2026-04-27T18:39:53","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T22:39:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medcitynews.com\/?p=146740"},"modified":"2026-04-28T11:20:51","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T15:20:51","slug":"timely-by-drfirst-aims-to-lower-barriers-to-specialty-meds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medcitynews.com\/2026\/04\/timely-by-drfirst-aims-to-lower-barriers-to-specialty-meds\/","title":{"rendered":"Timely by DrFirst Aims to Lower Barriers to Specialty Meds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Timely by DrFirst introduced<\/a> a new solution last week that aims to remove barriers to accessing specialty medications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Timely by DrFirst is an engagement platform that connects providers, pharmacies and patients. It offers e-prescribing and medication management solutions for hundreds of ambulatory electronic health record systems and thousands of hospitals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its new solution operates within e-prescribing platforms and surfaces actionable insights for providers. These insights include benefits verification, pharmacy options and prior authorization criteria. When a clinician chooses a medication, Timely provides the \u201cinformation that\u2019s relevant to the patient and the specific drug right in the moment,\u201d said <\/strong>Valerie Mondelli, chief commercial officer of Timely by DrFirst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor example, when a clinician selects a medication that commonly triggers a pharmacy change request, Timely surfaces a few targeted questions,\u201d Mondelli told MedCity News. \u201cThe answers can be applied directly to the medication order, resulting in fewer change requests for those types of medications. When a prior authorization is needed, Timely asks providers questions that are most likely to satisfy payer requirements, resulting in an increased PA completion rate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the prescription is sent, the patient receives a text message that connects them to a personalized site that includes information on financial assistance, educational materials or support programs to help them adhere to the prescription.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The solution can lead to a 60% prior authorization completion rate for specialty medications and 56% fewer change requests for medications that often trigger them, according to the company. The texting feature also achieves an 88% engagement rate, the company added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, specialty medications have the highest risk of abandonment, as more than half of prescriptions never get to the patient. This is due to prior authorization barriers, coverage challenges and dispensing restrictions, according to Timely. This is what the company aims to change with the new solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPhysicians went into medicine to take care of patients, not to navigate a maze of payer rules, prior authorization requirements, and specialty pharmacy logistics,\u201d Mondelli said. \u201cMeanwhile, patients leave an appointment motivated and hopeful, and then days pass with no prescription, no update, and no guidance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy the time someone reaches out, the momentum is gone,\u201d Mondelli continued. \u201cAnd pharma brands that have invested years and millions of dollars bringing therapies to market watch them get stuck in administrative limbo before a patient takes a single dose. We launched the Timely provider solution so providers spend less time on rework and patients start therapy faster.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo: Stas_V, Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Timely by DrFirst launched a tool to streamline prior authorizations and improve access to specialty medications.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31767,"featured_media":23004,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"featured_image_focal_point":[],"homepage_placement":"top","homepage_placements":{"top":true,"featured":true,"sidebar":false},"homepage_alternative_layout":false,"featured_categories":[117],"hide_from_feed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[117,36,24],"tags":[23460,53591],"class_list":["post-146740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-tech","category-syn","category-top-story","tag-specialty-drugs","tag-timely-by-drfirst"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTimely by DrFirst Aims to Lower Barriers to Specialty Meds - MedCity News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/medcitynews.com\/2026\/04\/timely-by-drfirst-aims-to-lower-barriers-to-specialty-meds\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Timely by DrFirst Aims to Lower Barriers to Specialty Meds - 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