PatientCraft Publishes Results of 340B Stakeholders Survey
Survey indicates that understanding 340B software configurations and lack of adequate resources are biggest concerns for 340B program participants
EL PASO, Texas, March 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- PatientCraft today announced the results from a survey of stakeholders in the 340B Drug Pricing Program conducted at the 13th Annual 340B Coalition Winter Conference in San Francisco from February 1 – 3.
The 340B program provides discounts on pharmaceuticals to hospitals and health centers with underserved and underinsured patient populations. Participating hospitals and health centers, known as covered entities, are required to put in place certain measures to ensure that the patient, prescriber and drug comply with program requirements and to avoid duplicate discounts, where both a 340B discount and Medicaid rebate are applied to the same drug.
The 92 survey respondents were various stakeholders in the 340B program, including chief executive officers, chief financial officers, pharmacy directors, 340B program managers and compliance managers from participating covered entities. The five-question survey focused on high-level elements of 340B program management, including policies and procedures, employee training programs, 340B software configurations and monthly self-audits.
"Overall, the survey results were positive regarding 340B program management," said Holly Russo, RN, MSN, MS, ECS, president and chief executive officer at PatientCraft. "The biggest red flag for me was the 23 percent of respondents who reported that they only log into their 340B software 'once in a blue moon.' 340B software is the backbone of any 340B program, but many entities struggle to understand the configurations in their software. That leaves them open to inadvertent compliance violations. There is an important education opportunity here for both 340B software vendors and entities to work together on ensuring the software is set up to effectively and accurately manage 340B claims."
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), which administers the 340B program, recommends that participating entities conduct monthly self-audits in order to maintain program integrity and compliance. The survey showed that the biggest challenge regarding completing these monthly self-audits was time constraints, followed by lack of personnel to complete the audits.
"The question about barriers to monthly self-audits brought to light the resource constraints that many of these covered entities face," said Russo. "In my experience, there tends to be a gap between perception of 340B program compliance and actual compliance, which comes from some common misunderstandings around what 340B software does and does not do. Self-audits are a critical tool for uncovering these potential gaps, but they require a resource level that is not always practical for entities – especially smaller hospitals and clinics."
For full survey results, please visit www.patientcraft.com/survey.
About PatientCraft
PatientCraft is a healthcare consulting firm focused on the 340B drug pricing program. We understand how critical 340B is to hospitals and health centers who need eligible drug cost savings to expand care to their patients. We're here to help covered entities evaluate and optimize 340B program participation through our unique approach that blends statistical, data-driven insights with deep 340B program expertise. For more information, visit www.patientcraft.com. You can also follow @PatientCraft on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Contact: Ann Baty
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SOURCE PatientCraft
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