Key Factors To Consider To Ensure Effective Management of a 340B Pharmacy Program

April 27, 2021 Sponsored Content Views

SPONSORED CONTENT by Ross Halsne

It’s becoming increasingly difficult for Covered Entities (CEs) to effectively manage their 340B pharmacy programs. Often times understaffed relative to the task of handling the myriad of challenges that come with managing a 340B program, they face a seemingly constant barrage of maneuvering and attacks aimed at reducing their 340B benefit. In response, many Covered Entities are evaluating new strategies to strengthen or reinvigorate their program. If your Covered Entity is taking a fresh look at its 340B program, make sure you are considering the following:

Evaluate The Merits of an Onsite Pharmacy Strategy

For CEs that can support this model, an onsite pharmacy can be an attractive option for a number of reasons. Often, CEs will seek the assistance of a third-party to help them evaluate, launch, and manage an onsite pharmacy program. If you are thinking about starting or growing an onsite pharmacy program, here are some considerations to keep in mind:

The vendors in this space have important differences to their service models that can make apples-to-apples comparisons difficult. Cheaper doesn’t always mean you are getting the best value.
What are your long-term organizational goals, and how does an onsite pharmacy strategy fit into that? Are the vendors you are considering aligned with those goals?
Accurate 340B transaction processing is a critically important function within onsite pharmacy management. How do vendor(s) handle 340B transaction processing? What reports are available via a self-service portal, and how is that information integrated with reporting from your contract pharmacies?

Consider Referral Capture As a Way To Grow 340B Program Savings

There is a growing trend among CEs to adopt these types of programs, which enable Covered Entities to grow their monthly program savings by 20% or more. If this is a program that your Covered Entity is considering, make sure you are thinking about the following:

This type of program requires some heavy lifting to operationalize. Does the CE have the resources and know-how to manage this process internally?
If considering a vendor to help manage this program, make sure they’ve got a demonstrated track-record in this space. Are they 340B compliance professionals?
Pay close attention to the degree of compatibility with other products you may be using. Will a referral capture program work with your TPA software?

Take A Fresh Look At The TPA Landscape

Several new TPAs have emerged over the past 24 months and Covered Entities now have more options to choose from than ever. If your CE is considering making a change, here a few things to keep in mind:

Determine how well your TPA can support your program across the various strategies you may have in place. Can your vendor(s) support a referral capture strategy? Can your vendor support an onsite pharmacy strategy?
The availability of good reporting has improved significantly over the past 24 months. Explain to your vendor(s) what information is most important to you and have them show you how to access that information in their system. If they don’t have an off-the-shelf solution, TPAs with a modern reporting infrastructure should be able to produce a report in days & weeks, not months.
You should have 100% transparency into what you are paying for. Ask the vendor(s) to disclose all ways in which they make money.

Importantly, pricing has shifted dramatically over the past couple years. Consider doing a price check on your TPA services. You might be surprised at what you will find out.

How Maxor 340B Can Help

At the end of the day, CEs that are considering making changes to how they manage their 340B program have many vendors to turn to. That’s the good news. The challenge is that few vendors have the breadth of expertise and capabilities to support the CE across all 340B program strategies. Now more than ever, Covered Entities are looking for fresh ideas and new solutions.

At Maxor, our mission is to help Covered Entities realize the full potential of their 340B program. Unlike traditional vendors that offer a narrow scope of services, we are able to support a CE’s entire 340B ecosystem – onsite pharmacy management, third-party administration services, compliance management support, and program optimization services. The integration of these services not only enables us to deliver better results for the CE, it allows us to offer these services at a significantly lower cost than what other vendors offer on a standalone basis.

We’d love to speak with you. Please contact me directly at rhalsne@maxor.com or visit us at www.maxor340B.com to see how Maxor can help you reduce costs, simplify program management, grow program savings, and confidently navigate a path forward.