Report highlights how 340B arrangements with community and specialty pharmacies improve access to care for underserved patients

The AHA Sept. 9 released a report highlighting how hospitals’ arrangements with community and specialty pharmacies improve access to care for underserved patients.

“The accessibility of community pharmacies presents a convenient, familiar, and dependable source of care,” the report notes. “This is especially true for those living in rural communities or who lack easy access to transportation.”

The report includes a number of data points on how 340B community and specialty pharmacies are located in counties that are experiencing issues that affect individuals’ health, including lack of insurance, food insecurity, high unemployment and severe housing problems.

“Importantly, these arrangements allow hospitals to better fulfill their 340B mission — to stretch scarce resources and expand access to care for more patients,” the report notes. “Collectively these data demonstrate the need for Congress to continue its strong bipartisan support of the program and reject efforts by big drug companies to undermine the program and the innumerable benefits it affords patients across the country.”