Orphan Drug Provision Will Negatively Impact Children’s Hospitals
April 18, 2010
Posted by chcablogadmin in : Financial Viability, Group Purchasing, Healthcare Reform
by John VanEeckhout, Pharm.D., Vice President, Clinical Services, CHCA
John VanEeckhout
Since September of 2009, children’s hospitals have been participating in the 340B program. Currently, 19 children’s hospitals are enrolled and have been receiving discounts on orphan drugs. The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 included a provision that would exempt orphan drugs from required discounts for several previously covered entities including children’s hospitals.
There are 363 orphan drugs on the list of drugs we will not be allowed to get through 340B. Most notable drugs on the list that CHCA hospitals use large amounts of are Remicade, Botox, blood factor products, and enzyme replacement products such as Cerezyme, Nagazyme, Fabrazyme and Myozyme. Buying orphan drugs at full price could cut into children’s hospitals’ projected savings between 50 and 100 percent.
This is not exactly what we had anticipated from the Reconciliation Process. We were led to believe that the process would provide for a “technical fix” to correct the issues created with the initial passage of DRA 2006, which was an amendment to a Medicaid funding bill that provided access to 340B for children’s hospitals. We now find ourselves disadvantaged in a area of high cost drugs where CHCA owners are not only the primary users of these products but are also the diagnostic centers for most children who have genetic diseases that require treatment with these orphan drugs.
What is needed here is another “technical fix” that corrects this error. CHCA is currently in talks with NACHRI, our GPO colleagues in HIGPA, and CHCA Owner Hospitals’ government affairs folks and their respective lobbyists to determine if we can quickly change this negative outcome. We will also be sharing current information with the appropriate groups in your hospitals including pharmacy buyers, pharmacy directors and home care directors.
add a commentSt. Louis Has Success with iPhone App for Parents
April 2, 2010
Posted by chcablogadmin in : Innovation, Technology
St. Louis starts a cutting-edge “mobile” strategy to educate parents about their child’s health. Read Lee’s update about St. Louis Children’s Hospital’s introduction of a new iPhone app for parents. — Don
In late January, St. Louis Children’s Hospital launched an iPhone application called KidCare to provide parents with fast and easy information about children’s health. With 31 percent of the general population using mobile devices for news and entertainment*, our marketing, planning and leadership teams realized this was fertile ground for engaging young parents.
Lee Fetter
KidCare is free and downloads from the hospital’s website or from Apple iTunes. KidCare offers information on 88 pediatric topics that are searchable alphabetically or by body area. The guidelines help parents make decisions on what level of medical care is needed when a child is injured or sick. They also help parents care for a child at home when it’s safe to do so.
I don’t expect, nor would I want, KidCare to replace a physician’s evaluation. In fact, one of its primary features is guidance for parents on when to call 911, visit the ER, or call a pediatrician. The application supports our marketing team’s goals of increased engagement with parents through new media strategies. While not technically considered social media, it gives parents another way to interact with the hospital beyond our Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channels.
The response to KidCare has been fantastic. Just six weeks after the official launch and only a week after the public announcement, we’ve had nearly 5,000 downloads. Our app gives parents an important health care resource through technology that is familiar and convenient to them. We hope it provides guidance, comfort and peace-of-mind about their child. If parents associate that positive experience with St. Louis Children’s Hospital as a result, then we’ve achieved our goal.
*source: Deloitte Media & Communications
add a commentThere Was a Time…
April 2, 2010
Posted by chcablogadmin in : Financial Viability, Industry Trends
Was I really ever so naïve to believe that if I simply represented a good cause in Washington that my issue would be heard? Maybe, but not anymore.
Half a billion dollars flowed through Washington to influence the Health Care Reform votes of some 200 Senators and Representatives. Clearly, you have to be a top spender to be heard. Take a look at 2009’s top 25 lobbying spenders. Notable on the list is the American Medical Association at $20 million and the American Hospital Association at $16 million. Unfortunately, they got trumped by Pfizer, AARP and the pharmaceutical industry, all of which have noticeably larger pocket books.
One can only speculate that that the cost of simply maintaining funding levels will get a lot more expensive as lobbying dollars get bigger and bigger.
add a commentPassing the Health Care Reform Buck
April 2, 2010
Posted by chcablogadmin in : Financial Viability, Healthcare Reform
Medical device companies, faced with a 2.9 percent sales tax designed to raise about $2.2 billion annually beginning in 2013 to help fund the health care overhaul are… you guessed it… planning to pass the tax along to hospitals. They claim the medical device manufacturing segment cannot sustain this expense due to “razor thin profit margins.”
So far, the lead organizations representing hospitals in the negotiations have refused to take a stand against the medical device industry. I find this a curious fact given many in the medical device industry post annual profit margins in the 20-30 percent range. What am I missing?
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