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The 340B drug pricing program enables covered entities to stretch scarce federal resources as far as possible, reaching more eligible patients and providing more comprehensive services. But 340B’s benefit goes beyond providing office visits with a physician and prescriptions to control HIV. 340B also supports the execution of many pharmacy support services. One is AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s Strategic Response Team (SRT). 

Alsean Bryant, an AHF pharmacist in the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) region, notes that as a member of the Strategic Response Team at AHF he is a, “resource that bridges the gap between lack of insurance and receiving care.”  

So let’s get to know Bryant, and how the 340B program helps him better serve his community.

Bryant is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of the historically black university, Florida Agriculture and Mechanical University (FAMU), and he is not only a pharmacist but a singer, songwriter, and author. 

Bryant brings over 10 years of HIV experience to his

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Community health center (CHC) pharmacies, which have long operated with tight budgets, have recently been further weighed down by a trifecta of woes:

1. Significant staffing shortages and lower margins related to COVID-19 – according to a 2021 Capital Link report, 66% of CHCs risked draining their cash reserves to dangerously low levels and patient visits declined 26% between April and December 2020.
2. The growing number of drug manufacturers that have imposed restrictions on the sale of 340B-discounted drugs to contract pharmacies
3. Growing regulatory complexity and the need to manage various vendors

These evolving challenges make delivering on CHCs’ mission to serve vulnerable patients in their community harder than ever.

To better understand the current state of CHC pharmacies, their struggles, plans, and partner preferences, Maxor 340B commissioned healthcare consultancy Sage Growth Partners to conduct an independent survey of CHC pharmacy leaders. The 75 leaders who responded to the survey provided fresh insights that can be

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Benjamin Franklin, an American Founding Father and Statesman, is attributed as being the source of the memorable quote “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” 

Today, compliance risk in the 340B Program remains significant for most covered entities.  The capabilities of many covered entities to reach all members of their communities with needed services and resources remains under intense pressure.  Hospitals, community health centers and other care providers have experienced unprecedented demands of staff and resources to meet the community needs of a seemingly unrelenting global pandemic. 

The risk of 340B program value erosion is centered around compliance, either directly or indirectly.  All stakeholders in the program focus on risk, whether in a direct audit finding or by indirect program integrity concerns with respect to duplicate discounts, diversion or ceiling price calculations.  HRSA continues to ramp up its oversight of the program with plans to increase both remote and on-site 340B audits during the upcoming year.

Meanwhile program benefits are

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Let me ask you something: Do you remember what was going on with the 340B program in the early 1990s?

Perhaps I should phrase that question another way, because those of us on the advocacy side can easily cite the fact that the program was kicked off in 1992 to help the nation’s safety-net providers fund vital services to underserved populations. What I meant was, what emotional memories do you have of the 340B program in the early 1990s?

If you’re coming up short, you’re not alone. On a superficial level, the program is a dry topic at best, not to mention increasingly difficult to navigate. I often struggle to easily explain it to my friends and family, and even covered entities can spend years figuring it out without the help of a 340B expert.

And yet, from a patient care standpoint (I was a practicing pharmacist at the time), I can recall exactly

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At AIDS Healthcare Foundation, we commit to linking any person newly diagnosed with HIV to care within 72 hours of their reactive result. In addition, through our AHF Wellness Centers that offer free STI (Sexually Transmitted Infection) screening and testing, our Healthcare Centers, our Mobile Testing Units, and community events, we provide the public with several opportunities for STI testing.

If there is a reaction after a person tests, a testing counselor will contact that person and set them up with a health care appointment at one of our many locations. At the appointment, we walk the individual through what care will look like moving forward, and we prescribe any appropriate medications needed to ensure they receive specialized care. At the same time, we schedule a follow-up appointment because statistics show that patients who make their second appointment are significantly more likely to stay in care long-term.

We are also excited to report the opening of two

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With so many competing priorities dominating each workday, it can feel overwhelming to keep track of the latest developments that affect the 340B Program. For 340B stakeholders responsible for maintaining compliance, operating a strong program, and maximizing their resources in this complex and ever-changing landscape, keeping up with policies and operational best practices is mission-critical. There is a one-stop solution that 340B experts have used since 2019: the annual 340B Trends & Hot Topics module from the Apexus Advanced 340B Operations Certificate Program. Apexus experts keep the module current with the latest 340B news, legislative activity, and operational challenges and solutions affecting all 340B stakeholders.

In the new 340B Trends & Hot Topics module, 340B stakeholders can explore various 340B expert perspectives regarding strategies for implementing a compliant 340B program in their respective entities.

The newest 340B Trends & Hot Topics module covers a range of 340B hot topics, including the

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The AIDS Healthcare Foundation thrift store division, Out of the Closet, presents a fun, stigma-free opportunity to link people to care. Every Out of the Closet thrift store benefits AHF’s life-saving programs around the world because 96 cents of every dollar spent at an OTC goes back to HIV care and services. Those services include HIV and STI testing, treatment, and securing medications for AHF Pharmacy clients.

OTC aims to serve a person’s life, not just a diagnosis. With Out of the Closet’s all-in-one model, people can donate old belongings, thrift for new clothes and furniture at an affordable price, grab free condoms to practice safer sex, receive HIV testing, get a referral for treatment if a reactive result occurs, and get linked to care in fewer than 72 hours. 

No other shopping experience allows people to provide for their livelihood and receive care all under one roof. In most OTCs,

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With more and more drug manufacturers excluding their products from 340B contract pharmacies, covered entities are asking two questions: When does this end? And what should we do about it? At Sentry, we’re asking ourselves, how can we best support our customers in these challenging circumstances?

With drugs like AbbVie’s best-selling Humira, Merck’s Keytruda and diabetic drugs from five different manufacturers, it’s safe to say that the contract pharmacy exclusions are taking an ever-increasing bite out of covered entities’ 340B benefits and curtailing their ability to provide critical safety-net services in their communities. We know this from speaking with thousands of covered entity end-users, stakeholders, and advocates. One customer of ours, a large urban health system, has lost over $70 million in program benefits to date from Sanofi alone. The impact is real and has lasting effects on caring for the most vulnerable.

During our February webinar where we discussed the “Manufacturer Mayhem,” I did

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Managing a hospital, clinic or specialty pharmacy grows more challenging with each passing day. Whether you are considering opening a new pharmacy or already operate one or multiple locations, existing and emerging complexities challenge daily pharmacy operations and financials.

Research conducted by Sage Growth Partners, a strategic healthcare-based marketing and research firm, reveals that community health centers (FQHCs) and hospital pharmacy leaders worry about scarcity and quality of labor, complex third-party payor contracting, and evolving compliance guidelines. Their concerns are rooted in the impact these issues have on patient access and outcomes, as well as profitability.

These concerns go above and beyond core pharmacy operations. Pharmacists and their staff face the unrealistic expectation to be highly knowledgeable about best practices for hiring and retaining employees, having the financial and contractual prowess to optimize drug purchasing and payor contracting, and even how to license and maintain accreditation in the complex regulatory world. However,