Prescription drug affordability is often framed as a problem that only impacts patients. But when a prescription turns out to be too expensive, physicians and their clinic staff often become the ones tasked with fixing it.
A newly released 2026 Physician Drug Cost Survey by RazorMetrics, which develops technology that supports pharmacy cost containment solutions, examined how prescription cost pressures affect physicians’ practices, from workflow interruptions and patient calls to medication changes and prior authorization.
The survey included 104 U.S. physicians and was conducted from June through August 2026. When drug prices – which continue to present a financial burden for many patients – are too high, physicians take on additional administrative workload. Eighty-four percent of practices reported receiving at least five patient calls per week regarding prescription costs, and strikingly, 96% of physicians said they have had a patient stop taking a medication due to cost without telling them.
Forty-two percent of respondents said their practices manage more than 30 prior authorization requests per week, with 72% spending at least five hours per week on prior authorization approvals. Another 53% spend three or more hours on step-therapy compliance, and two-thirds indicated that they spent at least five hours per week overall dealing with prescription cost issues after the prescription was already written.
Respondents were largely receptive to cost-containment interventions. A whopping 95% said they were comfortable switching patients to lower-cost alternatives so long as they were clinically appropriate, and 58% say they already routinely offer those same savings opportunities to other patients taking the same medication.
The challenge is making prescription cost-containment solutions available without adding additional administrative tasks. Nearly half of respondents said that fewer workflow interruptions from PBM and payer outreach would make said outreach more useful. The survey states:
“What physicians say would help is consistent: fewer workflow interruptions and direct patient benefit data so they can see how much a different medication will save their patient.”
The survey of physicians follows RazorMetrics’ 2026 State of Drug Access Survey, which examined patients’ experiences with prescription costs. Most notably in that survey, 42.6% of patient respondents stated that they were prescribed a drug too expensive to fill in the last 12 months. Sticker shock was felt by 75% of insured consumers for drugs that cost less than $250.
In a May 2026 survey from the American Medical Association, only 33% of physicians surveyed agreed that recent reform efforts to prior authorization workflows will meaningfully reduce administrative burden, care delays, and patient harm.
Efforts to address drug costs intertwine with day-to-day clinical workflows, and solutions which consider administrative burden across prior authorizations, approvals, and step therapies may have a stronger impact on prescribing practices.
The survey states that physician willingness to address affordability is not the issue – rather, the timing and delivery of cost-containment efforts are key. Across the board, physicians were open to switching patients to lower-cost, clinically appropriate alternatives. Workflows that reduce cognitive burden and offer patient-specific insights may improve cost outcomes.
RazorMetrics notes that the survey was voluntary and incentivized, and therefore represents a self-reported snapshot of physician experiences, rather than a random sample.
Photo: cagkansayin, Getty Images
