Q: Where did you grow up?
South Alabama
Q: Tell us about your educational background and training.
I graduated from Auburn University’s Harrison School of Pharmacy. My career as a pharmacist includes retail, hospital, and specialty pharmacy.
Q: What are your favorites?
Food: Mexican, chocolate
Movie: I do not watch many movies, but I am always up for the original Star Wars trilogy.
Musicians: Fleetwood Mac, Matchbox Twenty, Kenny Chesney
Destination: Anywhere with water – beach, lake, river
Q: What do you like to do outside of work?
Hang out with family and friends at the beach and lake.
Q: What kind of work does your company do in 340B and what makes it stand out?
We provide 340B optimization and management services for covered entities (CEs) and pharmacy services such as implementation and management of retail and specialty pharmacies on CE campuses. With complementary tools for improving patient and employee health and increasing financial stability of the CE, we are able to deliver a comprehensive approach to CE 340B strategy.
Q: Why did you choose to work in the 340B space?
The 340B program is straightforward in its guidelines but complex in its operations. When a CE’s 340B program is run well, it can drastically improve the CE’s ability to improve patient outcomes. As a pharmacist, this motivates me to drive operational improvements for our clients. As someone who loves a challenge, the complexity and the constant industry pressure and change require continual problem-solving. Improving 340B savings and compliance—“winning” in this complex environment—is incredibly rewarding work.
Q: What do you feel is your most significant contribution to the 340B world or to a 340B customer/client?
Building the 340B team from a team of one to a team of diverse individuals and developing the structure and processes necessary for optimizing and managing CE programs to include cross-functional collaboration with analytics, accounting, pharmacy operations, and client management teams has been one of the most rewarding of my career.
Q: What advice do you have for a young professional who has recently launched a career in the 340B space?
Stay curious and humble because there is always more to learn in the 340B world. Use the structure for science experiments: Research, determine a plan, implement the plan, test the outcome.
For questions, Heather can be reached at heather.brooks@vytlone.com.
