Aug 14, 2025
How can we know what healthcare providers are really thinking about when it comes to cost, coverage, and patient access in 2025? To better understand prescribers, we survey 100 practicing HCPs every year to find out what’s shaping their decision making. This year’s findings reveal a rapidly shifting landscape that pharma brands can’t afford to ignore.
The HCP Survey is designed to give brands an unfiltered look into their prescribing mindset, blending the quantitative voices of 100 prescribers with actionable insights to help guide your market access strategies. On average, these HCPs bring 25 years of clinical experience, see 120 patients per week, and interact with multiple pharma reps regularly. Their collective perspective offers a clear message: Access is no longer a footnote to the clinical conversation—it’s a central driver of patient care decisions.
Cost and Coverage: The Deciding Factors
Providers continue to face mounting pressures around affordability and payer barriers, continually reshaping how treatment decisions are made. While medication efficacy remains essential, many HCPs now view out-of-pocket costs and insurance coverage details as immediate concerns at the point of prescribing.
In our survey, nearly 90% of HCPs said out-of-pocket costs are important in their decision-making, a sharp reminder that even the best clinical data must be supported by affordability and coverage details. Providers want specifics on co-pay information and any prior authorizations that must be navigated in order to start the appropriate therapy in a timely manner.
Personalized Access Messaging Is Setting the Bar
Gone are the days when broad “covered/not covered” talking points were enough. Providers are signaling the need for more HCP-specific, real-world insights that can help guide their decisions confidently.
A notable majority of HCPs in our survey indicated they are more likely to act on access information when it reflects their localized market conditions. This means brands must move beyond high-level generalizations to deliver precision, whether this is through brand.com resources or rep-presented digital sales aids that adapt to the patient mix of each practice.
Reps Are Still Essential, but Trust Must Be Earned
As we saw in previous years, reps continue to be HCPs’ most sought-after source for coverage and savings information. But the dynamic is shifting. Providers appreciate this rep engagement but have become more discerning about the quality of the insights shared.
Confidence in rep-provided access information isn’t a given—it’s earned through personalized, data-backed discussions that align with the particular HCP’s patient and payer landscape. In other words, just showing up on someone’s doorstep is no longer enough—reps need to show up prepared with the right personalized information at the right time.
Digital Engagement Is the New Standard
While face-to-face interactions are still valued, HCPs are increasingly leveraging digital resources to validate and supplement information they’re given. We saw a notable rise in the use of HCP brand.com sites for coverage checks, and reps using digital iPad materials were among the top preferred methods for learning about prescription coverage. HCPs are becoming more agile when moving across platforms, and they expect consistency, speed, and actionable insights wherever they engage with your brand.
Patients Are Growing More Vocal About Cost Concerns
Providers are also telling us that cost conversations with patients are becoming unavoidable, and they’re happening more frequently.
This year’s survey showed a sharp uptick in the number of HCPs who report patients requesting medication changes because they know another product has better coverage or is less expensive. Clearly, patients are doing their research and taking medication costs into their own hands. For HCPs this often means pivoting to alternative therapies due to coverage realities rather than clinical preference alone, highlighting why market access is a critical point of patient care today.
What This Means for Pharma Brands
These trends point to a clear revelation: Pharma brands must adapt to the evolving access expectations of HCPs. This means enabling your reps with precise, HCP-specific insights, delivering consistent and relevant messaging across digital and live channels, and embracing a strategy that blends clinical efficacy with practical affordability.
Brands that can meet these changing needs will be positioned as true partners in patient care, helping HCPs navigate the access maze so their patients can start therapy and treatment without unnecessary delays.
Ready to Dig Deeper?
The trends highlighted here are just the beginning. The full 2025 HCP Survey Report is your complete resource for understanding what providers expect now—and what will drive prescribing decisions in the year ahead. Get all the data, insights, and actionable recommendations you need to boost your strategy and empower your teams to meet HCPs where they are.
Bring targeted, practice-level data and address real access barriers in every HCP interaction. Learn how Access Genius can help influence prescribing decisions and support stronger rep-provider relationships.