How to Help Your Patients Find Eysuvis in Stock: A Provider's Guide

For ophthalmologists, optometrists, and other providers who treat dry eye disease, Eysuvis is a powerful short-term tool for managing flares. But prescribing it is only half the battle. Many patients run into access barriers — pharmacy stock gaps, insurance hurdles, and sticker shock — that can leave them without the medication for days or longer. This guide gives your practice a concrete playbook for improving Eysuvis access for your patients.

Why Eysuvis Access Is a Practice Management Issue

When a patient can't fill their Eysuvis prescription, it often leads to callbacks to your office: "My pharmacy doesn't have it" or "My insurance won't cover it." This adds work for your staff and delays the patient's care. Proactively addressing the most common barriers at the point of prescribing can significantly reduce this friction.

Strategy 1: Build Pharmacy Relationships for Reliable Stock

Chain pharmacies often don't stock Eysuvis reliably because it's brand-name only and dispensed infrequently. Consider building a relationship with 1-2 local independent pharmacies that are willing to maintain stock of Eysuvis and other specialty ophthalmic medications you prescribe regularly. You can mention these pharmacies to patients as preferred options for specialty eye drops.

If your practice has a large volume of dry eye patients, consider becoming a "preferred prescriber" partner with Alcon's BlinkRx pharmacy — a home delivery service that specializes in Alcon products and typically has reliable Eysuvis availability. Patients who use BlinkRx receive home delivery with insurance processing and automatic copay card application.

Strategy 2: Prescribe Early, Not at the Onset of a Flare

About 80% of dry eye patients experience flares. If you can identify patients who have recurrent flares — particularly seasonal ones — consider prescribing Eysuvis preventively, before the known trigger period. A patient who fills their prescription in November when flares are anticipated (due to winter heating) has a much better experience than one scrambling to fill it in the middle of a painful flare in January.

Strategy 3: Handle Prior Authorization Proactively

Prior authorization is one of the most common reasons Eysuvis goes unfilled. Here's how to minimize PA delays in your practice:

Create a standard PA template for Eysuvis. Include: diagnosis (ICD-10 H04.123 or relevant dry eye code), flare frequency and severity, prior therapy history (OTC artificial tears, prior cyclosporine if applicable), and clinical rationale for Eysuvis specifically.

Initiate the PA at the time of the visit, not after the patient calls your office. If your EHR supports e-PA, submit it before the patient leaves.

For urgent situations (severe active flare), contact the insurance company for an expedited review — most plans have a 72-hour expedited PA process.

If PA is denied, consider an appeal. The clinical differentiation of Eysuvis (only FDA-approved corticosteroid for dry eye disease) is a strong argument.

Strategy 4: Address Cost at the Point of Prescribing

The retail cost of Eysuvis ($529–$687 per bottle) is a significant barrier that causes many patients to abandon their prescription. You can reduce this at the point of prescribing:

Print or email patients the Alcon Patient Access Program information before they leave the office. Insured patients may pay as little as $30; uninsured as little as $79. Phone: 844-373-0987; website: alconpatientaccessprogram.com.

For low-income or uninsured patients, refer them to the Alcon Cares patient assistance program, which provides medication at no cost to eligible patients.

Keep a supply of starter samples if Alcon provides them to your practice — samples allow patients to begin treatment while working through cost and insurance issues.

Strategy 5: Recommend medfinder to Patients

Rather than having patients call your office when they can't find Eysuvis, direct them to medfinder. medfinder calls pharmacies near the patient, checks which ones have the medication in stock, and texts the patient the results. This can be mentioned at the point of prescribing: "If your pharmacy doesn't have it in stock, visit medfinder.com — they'll call pharmacies for you." Consider adding medfinder.com to your discharge instructions for Eysuvis prescriptions.

Strategy 6: Maintain Sample Inventory and Clinical Alternatives

For patients with active severe flares who cannot quickly access Eysuvis, having clinical alternatives ready prevents gaps in care. Short-term bridging with a prednisolone acetate eye drop or another loteprednol formulation (off-label for dry eye) may be appropriate while the patient resolves the access issue. For the longer term, initiating a chronic dry eye therapy like cyclosporine allows you to manage the underlying disease while the patient works through Eysuvis access barriers.

Putting It All Together: A Practice Protocol for Eysuvis

For additional context on the formulary landscape, PA requirements, and clinical role of Eysuvis, see our companion post on what providers need to know about Eysuvis availability in 2026.

A simple practice protocol for Eysuvis prescriptions might look like:

Prescribe Eysuvis + initiate PA at the time of visit (if insurance requires it)

Give patient the Alcon copay card information and medfinder.com at check-out

Send prescription to BlinkRx or a preferred independent pharmacy if patient agrees

Follow up at next visit to confirm the prescription was successfully filled