MedNet©

In 1999, the Pasco-Pinellas District Health Plan concluded that residents die most often from heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes and lung disease and that these chronic conditions contribute substantially to racial and ethnic health disparities. People with chronic conditions need ongoing and often medically complex treatment regimens, including extended use of prescription drugs. Access to prescription drugs was identified as a critical factor in the effective management of chronic disease, yet the high cost of medications was a barrier to care that required people to choose between purchasing prescription drugs or other needed goods and services.

Community leaders recommended developing a Compassionate Drug Patient Assistance Program to expand access to prescription drugs for low-income uninsured adults, including seniors. In 2000 Pinellas County Government funded a compassionate drug program and retained the Suncoast Health Council to design and implement MedNet©.  

MedNet© helps people to obtain prescription drugs from pharmaceutical companies that offer patient assistance programs. The program uses a unique database which provides the instructions and applications needed to request medications from 90 pharmaceutical companies offering prescription coverage for over 1,000 medicines. At this time MedNet© is operating from several sites in Pinellas County including: Bayfront Family Health Center, Johnnie Ruth Clarke Health Center, Suncoast Health Council, and St. Petersburg Free Clinic. In 2006 the Health Council expanded services to Polk County and is operating out of the Polk County Community Health and Social Services Division in Bartow.  In 2009 MedNet began serving Hillsborough County residents at the Brandon Outreach Clinic and the Judeo Christian Clinic.

MedNet© enhances the community's ability to manage chronic disease by facilitating timely and consistent access to prescription drug treatment. MedNet© removes economic and literacy barriers that block access to prescription drugs by securing free drugs for low-literate, low-income uninsured adults, including the working poor.  MedNet© also promotes team work between private doctors, their patients, the safety net system, and the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, which is required by law to give pharmaceutical support to chronically-ill adults with limited income. The application process used by manufacturers requires applicants to be literate, mentally focused, and very resourceful. MedNet© clears obstacles by working one-on-one with patients to help them with the application and refill process.

In calendar year 2009, the MedNet© program secured over $5.2 million in free prescription medications for chronically ill residents living in the Tampa Bay and West Central areas of Florida.  In total, MedNet provided almost $10 in free medication services for every $1 spent to provide program services.  For more information please click on Current Programs at the top of this page.