HIV/AIDS clinics and community health centers that participate in the 340B program yesterday announced the first 340B conference exclusively for grantee covered entities, Oct. 18-19 in Denver.
Ryan White Clinics for 340B Access (RWC-340B), National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), and state and regional primary care associations are the co-hosts. In March, RWC-340B executives said they were launching a group called 340B Grantees to represent non-hospital entities. The new group’s logo is atop the conference website.
The 340B Grantees event will take place immediately after two regional health center groups—Community Health Association of Mountain/Plains States and Northwest Regional Primary Care Association—hold their 25th annual joint fall conference in Denver. “Crossover attendees are invited,” the conference website says. The two-day event will include sessions on the fight over 340B contract pharmacy program, grantee use of program income, alleged discriminatory reimbursement by PBMs and payers, audits, STD and HIV/AIDS clinical developments, and 340B regulatory and legislative developments.
A person involved in planning the event said that while it focuses mainly on Ryan White clinics and health center concerns, all other grantee entities are welcomed and invited to develop sessions for future conferences geared to their interests.
The 340B Coalition 2022 summer conference in National Harbor, Md., organized by hospital group 340B Health, is taking place next week. A person involved in planning the 340B Grantees conference said it is not intended to “replace or diminish the value” of the 340B Coalition summer and winter conferences. Rather, its purpose is to “augment the national conference with regional meetings that can dive more deeply into the grantee space and by being regional, enable grantees—who typically have limited travel budgets—to send more of their 340B team.”
NACHC Launches “340B Day”
NACHC earlier this month announced it added its first-ever “340B Day” to its annual Community Health Institute (CHI) and Expo, taking place Aug. 28-30 in Chicago with a virtual option.
340B Day, Aug. 30, is a dedicated daylong CHI track on 340B issues. There is no extra cost to participate. The four back-to-back sessions cover protecting 340B savings when contracting with PBMs, pharmacies, third-party administrators, and managed care organizations; health center chief executives’ approach to 340B participation; lobbying at the state level; and roundtable discussions and networking.
“We have been getting so many requests from members to do more on 340B,” NACHC Director of Regulatory Affairs Vacheria Keys said. “Given events over the last two years, it was really important to create this space at a NACHC conference for the people who run 340B programs at health centers and the folks who support them. We know there are the 340B Coalition summer and winter conferences. But we are carving out this space just for health centers to network, to learn from each other, and for NACHC to dedicate more resources to 340B educational opportunities.”
Keys said about 300 CHI registrants have signed up for 340B Day. The room it is being held in has a maximum occupancy of 400. If demand outstrips the supply of seats, conference goers can still participate via the conference’s virtual option, Keys said.
