Joseph Kleiman, president of Buzz Health
Photo: Buzz Health
Attendees of the 2026 HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition should be ensuring they are handling the effects of the dramatic shift in the prescription journey, said Joseph Kleiman, president of Buzz Health, a vendor of prescription technology that connects pharmacies, health plans and providers. The company is in booth 761, Venetian Level 2, at HIMSS26.
"A claim no longer simply moves from prescriber to pharmacy to payer in a linear fashion," he explained. "Multiple pricing checks, routing options and eligibility determinations can occur in real time. This rapid change has, in turn, prompted the acceleration of integrated prescription workflows that operate across traditional insurance adjudication, cash discount programs and emerging marketplace models."
Price transparency
"Two parallel forces are driving this shift," he continued. "The first one is the heightened demand for price transparency at every point in the care continuum. Patients have fully adopted a consumer mindset when it comes to prescriptions, expecting to understand their options before they arrive at the pharmacy counter."
Prescribers, health plans and pharmacy benefit managers increasingly want to provide these options earlier in the process, he added.
"The second and equally powerful driver is the rapid innovation in the technologies that enable these comparisons, including API-based integrations into electronic health record systems, pharmacy systems and benefit platforms," he noted. "Yet the expanded flexibility introduces new compliance and governance challenges.
"As prescriptions can move between benefit types, cash programs and discount structures, organizations must ensure compliance with HIPAA requirements, state-level personally identifiable information regulations and contractual obligations," he continued. "Much of this activity occurs behind the scenes, which increases the need for reporting, auditability and clear controls."
For many organizations at HIMSS26, the opportunity is significant – yet the operational complexity is equally substantial, he added.
Begin with a map
Kleiman is offering advice to CIOs and other health IT leaders at hospitals and health systems who are in the exhibit hall as to what they should be doing right now to best handle the dramatic shift in the prescription journey.
"CIOs and health IT leaders should begin by mapping their current prescription workflows in detail," he said."Many organizations discover their processes rely on legacy assumptions about how claims are adjudicated and how pricing options are presented. As integrated pricing tools and marketplaces become more common, those legacy workflows can create friction or unintended compliance risk.
"Leaders should evaluate where real-time pricing is introduced, how alternative payment options are surfaced and who ultimately controls prescription routing decisions," he added.
The importance of interoperability
Second, organizations should prioritize interoperability with clear governance frameworks, he advised.
"Health system practice networks and retail pharmacy chains alike need structured reporting that provides visibility into how prescriptions are adjudicated, when alternative pricing is triggered and whether any deviations occur from the prescriber's original intent," he explained. "This governance also includes ensuring that technology vendors provide configurable controls, robust audit trails and ongoing monitoring capabilities.
"Finally, leaders should align technology strategy with patient experience strategy," he continued. "Across physician-practice networks and health system-owned ambulatory clinics, there is growing interest in presenting cost options at the point of prescribing rather than deferring those decisions to the pharmacy counter. That requires tight integration with EHRs and a deliberate approach to workflow design."
The goal is to provide patients with informed choice while maintaining operational efficiency for clinicians and pharmacy staff – organizations that act now to modernize these workflows will be better positioned as transparency expectations continue to rise, he concluded.
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