By Robert Nahoopii, PharmD, MS, ACE, Senior Vice President of Pharmacy Services at SpendMend
You may have heard… and if you haven’t then you soon will. We are launching the “340B Unscripted” Podcast. Look for a much wider public announcement in a couple weeks!
As we have been sharing the news with clients and recruiting for guest speakers, we have encounter one very common question and I wanted to take a moment to address that in a blog. The question is: Why did you created the “340B Unscripted” Podcast?
To properly answer this question, let me provide a little context.
Based on a recent report by the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform – a national policy center focused on designing and implementing payment systems that support affordable, patient-centered health care, hundreds of hospitals across the nation are considered to be “at risk.”
These hospitals are just barely solvent and are on the brink of going out of business. What’s worse than this already troubling fact is that millions of people who live in the areas served by these “at risk” hospitals will be directly affected – and lose access to healthcare – if the hospitals were to close.
Sadly, this is nothing new. Agencies and organizations have been trying to make healthcare more affordable for decades. In 1992, Congress passed bipartisan legislation which established the drug pricing program that granted select hospitals and clinics – specifically those serving vulnerable patient populations – access to discounted medications to combat rising healthcare costs.
This law (which is outlined in Section 340B of the Public Health Service Act) serves as the genesis of what we know today as the 340B drug pricing program. Our entire team at SpendMend Pharmacy is passionate about the 340B Program and the positive impact that the Program has had on delivering affordable medications to underrepresented patient communities.
At present we serve over 300 pharmacies and health systems across the country and dozens of those hospitals would confess that without the 340B Program they may not be able to stay open.
Unfortunately, as the healthcare delivery has grown in complexity over the last 30 years, so has participation in the 340 B program. The increase complexity often challenges a hospital’s ability to take part in the Program and that leads to an overall decrease in the widespread positive impact of the Program.
We are bringing a new podcast to you called “340B Unscripted” where we dive into the complicated and sometimes contentious aspects of the 340B Program, as well as other hot topics in the pharmacy and healthcare space. Our goal with this podcast is to help inspire and educate pharmacy professionals so they may take full advantage of everything the 340B Program has to offer, and in so doing they can better serve patients.
Tune in to hear from our experts as they share insights from the field. We will cover a wide range of topics from HRSA audit readiness; to innovative strategies for managing pharmacy operations; to developments in the healthcare landscape that may impact covered entities.
We will also welcome special guests and industry experts from time to time so that you can hear thoughts and perspectives from all sides of the discussion. For more information check out our website at SpendMend.com or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.
You can catch the “340B Unscripted” Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, and Amazon Music.