Hospitals throughout the U.S. use their 340B savings in innovative ways to care for their patients in need. In some cases, they can take that care outside the walls of the hospital to meet patients where they learn, live, and play. We speak with Heather Armstrong with Comanche County Medical Center in central Texas to tell us how her health system invests 340B savings into innovative approaches to community care.

Improving student health on campus

Since the end of 2022, Comanche County Medical Center has been operating a school campus-based program that pairs onsite diagnostic equipment with telehealth visits to keep students and staff healthy without requiring families to miss school and work. The program has decreased absenteeism and enabled faster recoveries for the patients it serves.

Putting community care on wheels

Comanche County Medical Center has a fully equipped mobile van clinic that it can deploy wherever the community needs care. By bringing the clinic to food drives, sporting events, and areas affected by wildfires, the center has been able to provide many more residents with preventive services, medications, and other vital care that they otherwise would not have accessed.

Expanding the reach through pharmacy partners

The community pharmacies that Comanche County Medical Center partners with, combined with prescription delivery services, has greatly expanded the numbers of patients whom the center can connect to needed prescription drugs. But drugmaker restrictions on contract pharmacies has had substantial negative impacts on that access and has affected the center’s plans for health services growth.

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Resources:

1. Court-Backed Arkansas Contract Pharmacy Law Prompts Enforcement Action, More Drugmaker Retreats