As the nation’s number of uninsured patients continues to rise, Cardinal Health is helping hospitals contain pharmaceutical costs by connecting their low-income patients with pharmaceutical manufacturer programs that offer free or discounted medications.

Many pharmaceutical manufacturers offer assistance programs that provide patients who meet specific requirements with access to free or discounted medications. When uninsured patients are enrolled in these programs, hospitals are able to reduce their overall drug spend by not having to absorb the cost of those patients’ medications. Each manufacturer has different program qualifications and application processes, however, which can make enrolling patients difficult and time consuming for hospitals.

Cardinal Health’s eRecovery Onsite service enables hospitals to completely outsource the process of enrolling uninsured patients in manufacturers’ patient assistance programs, at no up-front cost to the hospital.

The company’s eRecovery Onsite service saved participating hospitals more than $20 million on pharmaceutical costs in 2009 alone.

Many low-income patients experience unnecessary and costly repeat visits to the hospital because they cannot afford the prescription medications that can address their health issues. Hospitals that use eRecovery Onsite say that the program also enables them to reduce uninsured patient re-admission rates – and their related costs – because participating patients are better able to adhere to medication guidelines prescribed by their physicians.

There are no start-up costs or staffing requirements for this service, and the program is designed to seamlessly integrate with each hospital’s pharmacy and billing department processes. Cardinal Health provides the staff to manage all activities related to patient assistance program enrollment. The company also offers monthly, customized reports of pharmaceutical savings per facility.

Hospitals and clinics that use eRecovery Onsite from Cardinal Health can:
— Maximize drug savings by ensuring all qualified patients are quickly
and efficiently enrolled in pharmaceutical manufacturers’ patient
assistance programs.
— Improve cash flow by recovering costs related to providing medications
to uninsured patients.
— Provide quality, compassionate care to uninsured patients by helping
them gain access to medications at little or no cost to them.
— Free up staff time by completely outsourcing all aspects of the
enrollment process.
— Know that there is no financial risk involved in using the service.
Cardinal Health charges no up-front cost or implementation fees. The
company gets paid based on a small percentage of the pharmaceutical
spend it saves participating hospitals.

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