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340B

Powers Law’s Bill von Oehsen, Sectyr’s Craig Frost say Compliance Now Paramount for 340B

For part two of Sectyr’s live webinar series focused on how to improve 340B program accountability, 340B legal expert Bill von Oehsen joined Sectyr President and COO Craig Frost in a wide-ranging discussion about the program’s past, present and future. Von Oehsen’s experience stretches back to the beginning of the 340B program, for which he played a key role in crafting the legislation to establish the program and expand the law in 2010 under the Affordable Care Act. According to von Oehsen, the story of the 340B program has two chapters, divided by the passage of the ACA. Chapter one was educating the public and covered entities about the program. In chapter two, compliance has become paramount. Not only do covered entities now have to worry about their compliance status for audits by the U.S.… Read More »Powers Law’s Bill von Oehsen, Sectyr’s Craig Frost say Compliance Now Paramount for 340B

340B Report’s Ted Slafsky riffs on what Congress, U.S. states have in store for 340B reporting

Changes related to 340B reporting requirements are afoot in Congress and several U.S. states. To explore what that means for 340B program managers, Sectyr recently invited Ted Slafsky, publisher of the 340B Report, to join Sectyr’s Craig Frost for the first in a series of live webinars discussing how to improve 340B program accountability and give policymakers and industry stakeholders greater confidence in its oversight. Slafsky, one of America’s leading experts on health care policy, regularly reports on the forces affecting the 340B program through his independent news coverage and analysis. A catalyst for stricter reporting To kick off the webinar, Slafsky noted that articles from last fall in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal are still having an impact on Congress’ view of the 340B program. Slafsky believes these pieces have… Read More »340B Report’s Ted Slafsky riffs on what Congress, U.S. states have in store for 340B reporting

Who’s responsible for 340B compliance?

Last May, we penned a blog series about what it takes to successfully comply with the 340B program. We posited compliance rests on five pillars, which are standardization, accountability, visibility, efficiency, and sustainability. Our aim with the posts was twofold:  Inform readers about each pillar but also clarify the roles people and technology play to ensure continuous compliance. In this post, we sum up our series and touch on the role compliance management software plays vis-à-vis consultants, and TPAs.

Who’s responsible for 340B program compliance?

Managing a 340B program and ensuring continuous compliance takes resources beyond consultants and third-party administrators. A 340B program manager can sign up a consultant to run an annual integrity audit and tap multiple TPAs to review transactions. But neither can help a manager achieve around-the-clock compliance. For a 340B program manager, compliance management software forms a critical triangle with consultants and TPAs. Compliance management software offers up-to-the-minute tracking of where a program’s problems lie. While compliance software won’t fix a problem, it’s a tool that consultants, TPAs, and 340B program teams can use to spot problems. In fact, the 340B program manager for a Midwest university medical center recently told us that his compliance management software “does the thinking and reminding to keep us true to [our program] plan, so we’re audit-ready.” There are many… Read More »Who’s responsible for 340B program compliance?

Sustainability: The fifth and final pillar for 340B program compliance

Compliance software is one solution for providing a program with sustainability. A good solution will help a 340B program team define its process within the software. Software like this can also alert stakeholders to tasks, deadlines, and report on the status of all manner of compliance-related work.

Well-designed compliance software will also help a 340B program team cover every area of compliance that the U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration wants to see. If a 340B program team has a deficiency, compliance software will let them know about it.

Efficiency, the fourth of five pillars for 340B program compliance

One way to reallocate time is with compliance software. With software that automatically analyzes and tracks the data HRSA auditors require, managers gain efficiency while keeping their 340B program in good standing. With a software system keeping tabs on what must be done, 340 program managers can focus on strategies for enhancing their 340B program instead of shoring up compliance.

For 340B Program compliance, visibility is the third pillar

With compliance software, a 340B Program director has a digital dashboard to keep score seven days a week, 365 days a year. A digital scoreboard gives a program director an automatic, up-to-the-minute look at the status of, for example, self-audits, OPAIS data, and tasks requiring attention. Compliance software stretches a team’s resources.

Accountability, the second pillar for 340B Program compliance

By automating the management of documents with compliance software, a director can assign tasks to each responsible party and verify the owner completes the job. Accountability is further improved when each team member can see their tasks, what’s expected, and when it’s due. Visibility is equally important for compliance. And in my next post, I’ll explore the role visibility plays for compliance.

Standardization, the first of the five pillars for 340B Program compliance

Implementing a compliance software system standardizes the analysis and tracking of 340B Program data required by auditors from HRSA. Not all compliance software systems are equal, though. If standardization is the aim, a manager will also want a system that includes logic-based, 340B-specific workflows for monitoring recertifications and corrective plans. It’s important to have a tool for imposing a structure and for visible and well-defined workflows.