CEO DATELINE - Hospital associations defend industry against new government report
CEO DATELINE - Hospital associations defend industry against new government report
- July 9, 2015 |
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Walt Williams
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A recent report by the Government Accountability Office has concluded that some hospitals have abused a federal drug discount program by overprescribing medications—a charge their associations vigorously dispute.
At issue is the 340B Drug Pricing Program, which requires drug manufacturers to provide medications at reduced prices to medical institutions that serve a high number of low-income patients. The GAO examined per patient drug spending habits and found they were significantly higher at 340B-eligible hospitals than at other hospitals, the industry publication Modern Healthcare reported.
"This indicates that, on average, beneficiaries at 340B disproportionate share hospitals (DSH) were either prescribed more drugs or more expensive drugs than beneficiaries at the other hospitals in GAO's analysis," the agency said in its report.
America's Essential Hospitals—which represents 340B hospitals—took issue with GAO's "unfounded conclusion that hospitals that serve our nation's most vulnerable patients inappropriately prescribe medications to Medicare beneficiaries for financial gain."
"We're surprised not only by the lack of evidence and data for GAO's conclusions and recommendations, but also by its suggestion that physicians in our nation's essential hospitals would ignore patient needs to enrich hospitals," the group said in a statement.
Piling on was the American Hospital Association, which had similar concerns about GAO's methodology.
"Simply put, the GAO report misses the mark," AHA Senior Vice President Tom Nickels told Modern Healthcare.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which administers the 340B program, was also critical of the report. However, the GAO stood by it, saying researchers carefully pored over the data and wasn't able to account for the discrepancy any other way. http://bit.ly/1dOjQJg
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