Every Patient Counts – A Focus on Patient Acquisition

A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) looks at the impact of federal programs for hospitals participating in the 340B Drug Discount Program, and the results are significant. As recently as 2016, participating hospitals received over $3.7 billion for the administration of drugs, resulting in 50% profit of $1.9 billion. These numbers accounted for 0.3% of operating budgets and almost 10% of uncompensated care costs.

$3.7 billion is a very large number. And compared to uncompensated care costs – or the REAL impact of penalties from readmissions and poor satisfaction performance – the large number becomes even bigger as to relevance. The JAMA study reveals that while the 340B impact is small compared to overall hospital operating revenues, the impact of 340B subsidies can materially diminish the impact of penalties, and sometimes offset them entirely. See the table below that highlights this comparison.

From review of these numbers, it’s clear that participating hospitals not only are impacted by uncompensated costs, but also are materially reliant on revenues received from participation in the 340B program. In effect, the effect of penalties and other shortfalls would be even greater if not for revenues under this program.

And that’s where a focus on patient acquisition becomes increasingly more important. Healthcare systems that are reliant on these revenues must focus on being a preferred choice for patients with medical needs. That focus starts with effective, timely communications during primary care visits, during and after a hospital stay, as well as a regular dialogue with patient populations who are likely to need treatment and care. Many hospitals recognize the need for patient acquisition, yet are resource-challenged to effectively manage such a patient communication program.

PREMEDEX can help

. Our trained professionals connect with hundreds of patients every day. In terms of bandwidth, that represents over 12 million minutes EVERY YEAR of individual conversations with patients – likely time and energy that should not be allocated to valuable nursing resources. And with our innovative technology that can also deliver electronic messages, our approach has helped many hospitals throughout the United States who are facing this challenge. The PREMEDEX team works closely with hospital leaders to create and implement a patient communications program that is customized to best meet specific operating needs.