About 30 Oregon hospitals that serve poor and rural patients met near Portland on April 29 to discuss how the 340B drug discount program enables them to fulfill their safety-net mission, the Portland Business Journal reports. Click here to read the article “While Oregon hospitals embrace drug discount program, ‘Big Pharma’ wants to scale it back.”
340B savings have allowed Oregon Health & Science University to open pharmacies, clinics, and cancer treatment centers in less densely populated areas, Joe Fazio, OHSU’s assistant director for pharmacy informatics, told the newspaper. Likewise, they allow Legacy Health System hospitals enrolled in 340B “to address the needs of underserved populations and expand the scope of what we can provide,” such as free mental health prescriptions for needy patients, said Kathleen Stoner, Legacy Health’s director of pharmacy services. The Portland-Vancouver area health system hosted the meeting. It was sponsored by the Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems, the Oregon chapter of the Healthcare Financial Management Association, and the national group Safety Net Hospitals for Pharmaceutical Access.