340B Unscripted

In this episode, Rob and Greg are joined by pharmacist leader and 340B expert Leah Marcelin (22:32) to share thoughts and ideas about building out an expert staff to manage your 340B program. They’ll debate strategies for right-sizing and organizing your team, share tips on recruiting 340B talent, and offer ideas on how to provide training and enrichment to 340B team staff members.

But first, Rob and Greg spend some time discussing a new organization - ASAP 340B, and their advocacy campaign proposing several reforms to the 340B Program. They’ll give a run-down of each of the 10 policy principles developed by this group, many of which aim at recent hot topics in the 340B community, including contract pharmacy arrangements, patient definition, hospital eligibility, and transparency of 340B Program data, among others.  

Read ASAP 340B’s policy principles here: https://www.asap340b.org/policy-principles

Connect with Leah Marcelin on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/hmarcelin

This is part two of our two-part series focusing on 340B grantee-covered entities. The team talks about the importance of maintaining auditable records (15:34) and the challenges that many grantees face in meeting this 340B eligibility requirement. Also, they cover important billing considerations related to Medicaid Duplicate Discount prevention (31:20). Finally, the group debates future developments that 340B grantee-covered entities should keep on their radar through 2023 (45:52).

But first, Greg and Rob catch up on 340B implications from the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 and share insights from a recent publication (J Manag Care Spec Pharm. 2023;29(3):229-35) that predicts which drugs will be subject to Medicare price negotiations starting in 2026 and beyond.

This episode is the first part of a two-part series focusing on 340B grantee-covered entities.  Rob and Greg are joined by SpendMend pharmacy experts (19:43) who bring their FQHC and Ryan White experience to share insights into 340B Program participation from the grantee perspective.  They’ll discuss what to look out for regarding OPAIS registrations (21:00) and requirements for using 340B savings (33:11).

But first, Rob and Greg catch up on the latest 340B developments, including new J&J contract pharmacy restrictions and a recent publication that reviews implications around new CMS billing modifier requirements for IRA-mandated inflation rebate penalties.

In this episode, Rob and Greg catch up on recent 340B developments, including the 3rd Circuit Court ruling on one of the contract pharmacy cases and the subsequent changes to some manufacturer's policies (1:36), how the new shape of the Senate HELP Committee may influence 340B legislative debate, and why a renewed focus on advocacy might be helpful (9:39) and what the end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) might mean for 340B Program operations (15:54).

Later, Rob and Greg are joined by colleague Riley Protz (25:24), and they discuss the latest challenges with manufacturer restrictions in the 340B contract pharmacy space.  They’ll recap the most up-to-date manufacturer policies, address the many difficulties with uploading data to 340B ESP, and highlight how the SpendMend pharmacy team has been supporting covered entities in navigating the issue.

Senate HELP Committee Membership: https://www.help.senate.gov/about/members

Rob and Greg kick off the episode with some discussion around news and noteworthy items across the 340B landscape, including more dialogue around CMS guidance on “JG”/”TB” modifiers (1:01), 340B in the news media (4:31), grantee recertification tips (14:13) and ongoing challenges working 340B ESP (18:39). Later in the episode, they are joined by Victoria Ferris of OptumRx and Thatcher Sloan of RxBenefits to discuss pharmacy benefit strategy as an underappreciated opportunity in the 340B space (26:23).

For our last episode of 2022 Rob and Greg are joined again by SpendMend colleague Matt Parker and debate the top developments in the 340B space over the last year.

In this episode, we have podcast guests Anna Bulochnik, and Chelsea Violette to discuss the challenging task of switching third-party administrators (TPAs). Great tips and recommendations on how to make the transition as smooth as possible. 

On this episode, Rob and Greg welcome a few new SpendMend colleagues - Curtis McEntire and Angela Whitney– to talk about Trulla, a state-of-the-art pharmacy procurement solution now offered by SpendMend. They’ll talk about the challenges of today’s pharmacy buyer, common untapped opportunities for drug savings, and how Trulla can bring your pharmacy procurement process into the future.

It’s Halloween, and in this episode, Greg and Rob invite guests from the field to discuss “tricks and treats” from recent HRSA audit experiences! They’ll review strategies for gathering audit data, the coaching staff for the onsite visit, and what you need to consider when you eventually receive your final audit report. HRSA audits can be a “frightening” experience, but this conversation will give you lots of info to help you be ready! Also, the guys share updates on CMS OPPS payments for 340B hospitals.