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For more than 125 years, HDMA has worked with its members to support a safe, efficient and reliable healthcare distribution system that provides life-saving health products and services. HDMA members ensure billions of units of medication are delivered safely and efficiently to tens of thousands of retail pharmacies, hospitals, nursing homes, clinics and other provider sites in all 50 states. HDMA members are a vital link in the healthcare system, providing highest quality solutions that save money and empower providers to deliver care more efficiently.
Today, there are nearly 46 million people in the United States who lack basic healthcare coverage. These individuals are often unable to access life-saving medications and therapies due to a healthcare system subject to ever increasing complex challenges. As policymakers discuss options to improve the quality, safety and sustainability of the nation’s healthcare system while looking into ways to increase coverage to millions of uninsured and underinsured Americans, HDMA offers the following principles we believe should be considered to ensure all Americans access to high-quality, safe and affordable healthcare.
- Expand Access to Healthcare Coverage
- HDMA supports expanding access to high-quality affordable healthcare for all Americans. Solutions considered to attain this goal should be patient-centered, with particular emphasis on addressing portability and sustainability. The basic market principles of personal choice and free-market competition, along with appropriate regulatory oversight and support for existing public programs, are critical to helping modernize the healthcare system to meet the future challenges of providing high-quality affordable healthcare for all Americans.
- Promote Innovation and New Technologies
- HDMA supports the use of new technologies and medical innovation to increase efficiencies, improve quality and reduce cost. Needed and appropriate investments in prevention and wellness programs, health IT, electronic health records, e-prescribing and interoperability will improve quality of care, reduce cost, decrease or eliminate medical errors and enhance information about the use of pharmaceuticals.
- Invest In Improving Quality, Efficiency, and Patient Safety
- Although medicines account for only a small percentage of overall healthcare costs, they continue to play an essential role in improving public health. Patients should have access to these lifesaving treatments without having to worry about their integrity or authenticity. Recognizing the value of a robust and secure medication delivery infrastructure that utilizes best practices to achieve efficiency, safety and quality is integral to promoting a safe, and reliable healthcare distribution system.
HDMA members remain committed to ensuring the safety and integrity of the healthcare supply chain and providing innovative solutions to improve quality and efficiency. HDMA welcomes the opportunity to continue to work with policymakers and other stakeholders to better empower providers to deliver care more efficiently and develop improved options to protect the safety and integrity of life saving health products and services in the healthcare distribution system. Only through a collaborative effort where all stakeholders are engaged can we realize our shared responsibility and bring positive lasting change to the healthcare system.
About HDMA
HDMA is the national association representing primary healthcare distributors, the vital link in the healthcare system. Each business day, HDMA member companies ensure that more than nine million prescription medicines and healthcare products are safely delivered to more than 165,000 pharmacies, hospitals, nursing homes, physician offices, clinics and others nationwide. HDMA and its members work daily to provide value and contain costs, saving the nation's healthcare system an estimated $32 billion per year.
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