Epic unveils drug price transparency tool to compare pharmacy costs

A new feature from Epic Systems aims to bring transparency to the point of care by embedding drug cost estimates into the EHR.

The health IT juggernaut has unveiled its Prescription Marketplace, a tool that clinicians and patients at organizations using Epic can leverage to find and compare medication costs at different pharmacies. The technology will show both the cash price and the price estimate with a patient's insurance. The tool will be available in summer 2027.

Notably, users will be able to determine the prescription cost before the prescription is sent, not after. This means that patients and providers can discuss price transparency and select a different pharmacy to cut costs.

Price transparency before sending the prescription is essential, as high prescription drug costs are among the top barriers to good medication adherence.

More than 40% of adults have skipped their medications because of high costs, Epic said, citing March 2026 data from KFF. A separate KFF survey showed that 16% of those with one or two chronic conditions skipped or rationed a dose of medication due to cost.

The Prescription Marketplace is built off Epic's Real-Time Prescription Benefit tool within the EHR, which lets providers determine how much a patient would pay for a drug with their insurance and provides some generic alternatives. This tool has so far saved patients more than $250 million in 2025, Epic said.

But the new system will have a bigger impact, in part because it helps clinicians and patients compare costs across pharmacies, according to Epic. Epic says any pharmacy can share its prices with the tool, and at publishing time, Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs, Amazon Pharmacy, Costco and LillyDirect have all signed on.

According to Mark Cuban, the co-founder of Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs, which partnered with Epic to build this feature, Prescription Marketplace should help enable comparison shopping.

"This will give patients transparency," Cuban said in the announcement. "If someone's insurance says a prescription costs $500 but they can buy the exact same drug for $100 at CostPlusDrugs.com, they should know that before they leave the doctor's office."

Prescription Marketplace could also improve the patient experience, as prescription drug pricing and insurance coverage are complex,  Jen Mazur, the general manager of U.S. LillyDirect at Eli Lilly and Company,  said in a press release.

"Giving patients and their healthcare providers greater visibility into pharmacy options and costs at the point of care is another important step toward reducing friction in the healthcare experience," she explained.

Sara Heath is an executive editor at Xtelligent Healthcare Media, where she covers patient engagement, healthcare policy and health IT.