An excellent initiative by the Federal government in the year 1992 set the entire low-income individuals to undergo medical treatments at a very low cost. The comprehensive 340B program has impacted the lives of rural people of the nation. With minimal eligibility criteria, an individual can purchase medicines at a discounted price.
Impact of 340B program on the People who live in rural areas
As such, the program has benefitted a lot of people in the nation. While the healthcare centers are getting more revenue out of this program, they can initiate treatments that normally cost a lot.
A few facts on rural impact are mentioned below
- There are close to 62% of covered institutions belong to rural areas of the nation.
- Out of this 62%, 45% of hospitals are critical access hospitals.
The revenue stream for these hospitals is taken care of by the funds generated by the 340B hospitals. If these funds are not available then the sole community hospitals and CAHS shall face the following problems
- The institutions have to rely on other revenue streams.
- The underinsured or uninsured patients cannot be treated by these hospitals.
- No patient care programs can run in these institutions.
- At times, the hospital must be closed without funds.
With these challenges faced, the 340B program has assisted and fought these shortcomings the right way helping the patients as well as the hospitals.
Benefits offered by the 340B program to the rural hospitals
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Drug Discounts
This is massive support offered by the federal government. Hospitals can avail a discount of 20% to 50% on drug purchases.
The hospitals are benefitted from this and the advanced referral 340B program has assisted their revenue turnover as well. MediraRx has so far supported 14 states in setting up the software solutions to track, monitor, and execute the 340B program successfully in many hospitals. With cloud-based support, they offer comprehensive training to the management and the staff of the covered institution to overcome any challenge that they face as they execute the program.
. Revenue Support
340B program has generated a lot of revenue for the covered institutions in the rural areas. The hospitals that may shut down due to lack of funds are flourishing these days and impacting the lives of many rural people.
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Cost-effective treatments
The otherwise expensive treatments for advanced ailments are offered at very affordable rates. The treatments are offered with medicines at a discounted price is a boon to every individual who has a very low income.
Conclusion
The American Hospital Association has reported in the year 2018 that these rural hospitals have contributed $517b for the communities through this 340B program. The community health needs are addressed with the help of awareness programs in the rural areas too.
In addition to physical ailments, mental health support is also being offered and mostly these programs are free. The recent survey has got the information that, if not for the funds then 57% of the rural hospitals would have shut down by now.
