340B Impact at HSHS St. Mary's Hospital
As a safety net hospital, HSHS St. Mary's Hospital provides health care for individuals regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay. Safety net hospitals serve a higher number of uninsured, Medicaid, Medicare, Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), low-income, and other vulnerable populations than their non-safety net hospital counterparts.
Within the safety net, St. Mary's Hospital is also a disproportionate share hospital (DSH) due to the proportionately high percentage of Medicaid patients served by the hospital. To qualify for the 340B program, hospitals must have a DSH percentage greater than 11.75%. St. Mary's Hospital's DSH patient percentage is 21.2%.
In FY2018, St. Mary's Hospital realized $1.8 million in savings through the 340B prescription drug program, which was primarily used to provide financial assistance. St. Mary's Hospital is committed to providing medically necessary care by offering financial assistance for co-pays, deductibles, or medical services for low-income individuals who qualify, which totaled $2 million in FY2018. The hospital provided community benefit health improvement services for the poor, totaling $324K in FY2018. Services included: a dental voucher program, a community garden to increase food security, teach job skills and improve local sustainable food sources, and the Hospital Transition Program, which provides wrap around services for frequent emergency department patients who may have unmanaged chronic conditions, pain related diagnoses, and mental health issues.