340B SAVINGS LINKED TO IMPROVED PATIENT HEALTH OUTCOMES
WASHINGTON, D.C.— Hospitals across the U.S. are using savings from the 340B drug discount program to improve health outcomes for patients living with chronic conditions and reduce overall costs. A new report profiles the work of nine hospitals to improve health through a variety of approaches that include help paying for costly drugs, medication management, and assistance with adherence to treatment regimens.
Hospitals participating in 340B purchase certain outpatient drugs at a discount and use the savings to treat more patients, especially those with low incomes or living in rural communities, and to offer more services, including those that are not covered by insurance or are often underpaid by such public programs as Medicaid.
Earlier this year, 340B Health conducted interviews with leaders at nine 340B hospitals and health systems located in six states (Colorado, Illinois, Nebraska, Ohio, Tennessee, and Utah). The hospitals range in size from 18 beds to 500 beds and are in both urban and rural areas. They include both disproportionate share hospitals, which treat a relatively large percentage of patients living with low incomes, and critical access hospitals, which are the only providers of certain critical services in their geographic areas.
The programs profiled have achieved measurably improved patient health outcomes. They include:
- Prescription drug assistance programs for patients with low incomes that have decreased unnecessary hospital admissions and emergency department visits;
- Programs to treat diabetes that have resulted in improved patient hemoglobin A1C levels;
- Medication therapy management and other pharmacy consultation programs that have boosted patient compliance rates with prescriptions and resulted in more efficient uses of therapies;
- An anti-coagulation clinic that has enabled a large percentage of patients with blood disorders to achieve the “gold standard” for their blood clotting factors;
- A lung cancer screening and patient navigator initiative that has resulted in a marked increase in the rate of cancers being detected at earlier stages; and
- Mental health services, utilizing an innovative crisis intervention phone app designed for youth and adolescents, that have been associated with a decrease in suicide rates.
“340B was designed to empower safety-net hospitals to address the unique needs of their patients and communities with programs that expand access to care and improve health. I’m impressed by the wide array of efforts these hospitals have undertaken to make sure 340B savings are invested in better health for patients,” said 340B Health President and CEO Maureen Testoni.
Please read the report and see an infographic summarizing the key findings.
Contact: Richard Sorian at richard.sorian@340bhealth.org or 202-536-2285.