A question we are often asked is: “should mobile be a delivery channel for your copay offers?” This is when the coupon is sent directly to the patient’s smart phone so it can be scanned by the pharmacy directly from the phone’s screen. As a starting point, I’ll point to the following facts I found on the use of mobile:

• The vast majority of Americans – 97% – now own a cellphone of some kind
• The share of Americans that own a smartphone is now 85%
• 90% of text messages get read within 3 minutes of delivery
• 31% of Americans use only mobile devices to access the Internet

Based on those numbers it seems that the mobile channel would be a must for programs, but in looking at the actual results last year, the industry saw only about 4% of all copay claims being delivered through the mobile channel (the smallest delivery channel).

At this point you should consider a mobile channel delivery purely as a convenience for some of your potential patients but not a necessity as they will find your offer through your other channels. Make sure your website section dealing with copay cards is optimized for mobile. My advice would be if you choose to invest in this channel choose a vendor that charges by the claim because with so few claims coming through that channel it would be very hard to get any type of return on your investment.