Community Health Systems, Inc. (NYSE: CYH) (“CHS”) announced today that it is expanding its partnership with Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs Company, making more medications available – at significantly lower costs – to the Company’s affiliated hospitals.
This new phase of the partnership taps into the Cost Plus Drugs Marketplace, powered by GraphiteRx. The Marketplace offers hundreds of common medications at deeply discounted prices compared to many traditional pharmaceutical suppliers. Driven by its commitment to make drugs affordable and to offer transparent pricing, Cost Plus Drugs charges a 15% mark-up on the actual cost of each drug. In many cases, savings of hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars are available when purchasing drugs from the Cost Plus Drugs Marketplace.
CHS-affiliated hospitals will begin by purchasing twelve drugs from the Cost Plus Drugs Marketplace, including a variety of antibiotics, medication used to prevent nausea in patients undergoing chemotherapy, and pharmaceuticals administered for the treatment of certain infections, glaucoma, acid reflux, hyponatremia, and other conditions. Annual savings of several hundred thousand dollars are expected initially and may grow as more drugs are approved for purchase from the Cost Plus Drugs Marketplace.
Additionally, as CHS identifies new opportunities for savings on pharmaceuticals or a need for specific drugs that can help prevent or address drug shortages, Cost Plus Drugs will work to source those medications directly from their manufacturers.
“The benefits of this partnership are significant and include immediate savings on drugs frequently used in the hospital setting,” said Lynn Simon, M.D., CHS President of Healthcare Innovation and Chief Medical Officer. “Equally important, our collaboration is about strategically pursuing opportunities to address a wide variety of pharmaceutical-related issues affecting all U.S. hospitals. We have an opportunity to do things differently, and the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs team is making very positive change possible.”
Earlier this year, CHS and Cost Plus Drugs announced that the two companies would work together to mitigate potential drug shortages, which are increasingly problematic for hospitals. CHS became the first hospital organization to purchase drugs from the new Cost Plus Drugs manufacturing plant in Dallas, Texas, which is equipped with aseptic robotic filling lines that produce sterile injectable medications. The first orders included norepinephrine and epinephrine. Epinephrine is on the Food and Drug Administration’s list of current drug shortages due to increased demand and manufacturing delays.
The partnership is also expected to reduce pharmaceutical waste and improve medication administration safety.
“A lot of healthcare organizations want a better, more innovative, and more cost-effective approach to drug purchasing,” said Alex Oshmyansky, M.D., PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company. “Our partnership with CHS is proving that’s possible. We see unlimited potential to help U.S. hospitals, physicians, insurers, and most importantly, the patients, who need access to affordable medications.”
About Community Health Systems, Inc.
Community Health Systems, Inc. is one of the nation’s largest healthcare companies. The Company's affiliates are leading providers of healthcare services, developing and operating healthcare delivery systems in 40 distinct markets across 15 states. CHS subsidiaries own or lease 71 affiliated hospitals with approximately 12,000 beds and operate more than 1,000 sites of care, including physician practices, urgent care centers, freestanding emergency departments, occupational medicine clinics, imaging centers, cancer centers and ambulatory surgery centers. Shares in Community Health Systems, Inc. are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “CYH.” The Company’s headquarters are located in Franklin, Tennessee, a suburb south of Nashville. More information about the Company can be found on its website at www.chs.net.
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