Even if this product could aggregate data from all the PBMs, that doesn't mean the drug will be in stock at a patient's local pharmacy.
Furthermore, there are many commonly prescribed drugs that are cheaper to buy outright using a discount program (not insurance). Also, there are manufacturer-to-patient rebates offered for some brand name drugs without a generic.
In short, there's a lot more information that doctors already factor into their decision-making process. This tool is not compelling enough to bring into the mix.
In other words, if a doctor prescribes me a $1000 medicine instead of a $500 one, and a visit to said doctor costs $500, I might not visit him a second time because I've already paid $1000 for the medicine and I don't have enough money for my health anymore. Not visiting your doctor when you need it (for whatever reasons) is bad for the patient.
But even if doctors who needed more patient bookings could attract those bookings by saving patients money then logic would follow that doctors who have room in their schedule would consistently use the app from the article. Yet most doctors aren’t using it at all.
So even if your premise is correct I think you’re greatly overestimating the surplus supply of doctors appointments and underestimating how steep/inelastic the demand curve is for healthcare.
Mostly unrelated, is saying “surplus supply” redundant? I can’t decide.
If the insurance is available, and so good, then they should handle the payment stuff. A doctor should be learning about treatment, research and patients, not which company has the cheapest drugs this month.
Doctors prescribe specific drugs. They don't prescribe "whatever SLGT-2 inhibitor your insurance plan covers". They also don't prescribe "whatever your approved first-line therapy for rheumatoid arthritis is". If doctors prescribe without caring about the cost to their patients, the best case scenario is that those patients come back for another prescription after the pharmacy tells them that their drug will cost $$$$ because insurance is not covering it. The worst case scenario is that the patients don't come back and decide they can't afford to have their condition treated.
[0] Barring patient intolerance to the preferred drug or various other exceptions.