New Campaign Aims to Raise Awareness of PPA Program

Tens of thousands of physicians serving low-income communities will soon receive resources to help them educate their patients about the Partnership for Prescription Assistance program.

The targeted physicians, identified through AAFP and AMA membership records, will get a packet in the mail that includes background information about the PPA, patient education brochures, sticky notes emblazoned with the PPA phone number and Web address, and a display box to set up in their reception areas.

The idea is to make the information visible and readily available both to physicians and to patients. "I know from my own practice that most patients either don't know about prescription assistance programs or don't realize they qualify," said AAFP President Mary Frank, M.D., of Mill Valley, Calif., in a Sept. 6 press release distributed by the partnership to media outlets nationwide.

According to the press release, the PPA program -- with the cooperation of more than 60 national organizations, including the AAFP -- has matched more than 800,000 patients with prescription assistance programs since the program's launch in April.