141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

276076
340B program and the sustainability of comprehensive health services to vulnerable populations

Tuesday, November 5, 2013 : 10:30 AM - 10:50 AM

Fungisai Nota, PhD , Sharon Hill Medical / AIDS Care Group, Sharon Hill, PA
The 340B program was created by Congress in 1992 to help uninsured indigent patients gain better access to prescription medicines. This program has allowed ‘covered entities' to stretch federal resources and cover uncompensated health services given to indigent patients, but not without criticism from various stakeholders. This presentation will give a basic overview of the 340B program; explore issues and strategies for program compliance; and the future of the program in light of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). As insurance coverage expands due to ACA, the 340B provider enrollment is expected to grow at historical rates. This presentation will explore the possibility of recalibrating the 340B program so that its benefits continue to be targeted to uninsured, indigent patients whom Congress sought to help when it created the program. In light of the growing complexity of the 340B program, this presentation will postulate and discuss potential market distortions that could arise at the hospital, pharmacy, and clinical decision making levels. Both HRSA and the Office of Pharmacy Affairs (OPA) are increasing the number of annual 340B audits making it imperative for all covered entities to have a comprehensive compliance plan – and this presentation will give covered entities the motivation and key elements in developing their compliance plans.

Learning Areas:
Administration, management, leadership
Program planning
Provision of health care to the public
Public health administration or related administration
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health

Learning Objectives:
Discuss how the 340B program works, with special attention given to eligibility and compliance issues. Demonstrate an understanding of how to run and optimize a 340B program. Demonstrate an ability to conduct an internal 340B audit as well as preparing for an external audit from the Office of Pharmacy Affairs and from manufacturers. Design a strategic framework that invests 340B proceeds in increasing efficiency, broadening the scope and sustaining the services provided to qualifying patients of the covered entities.

Keywords: Financing, HIV/AIDS

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Dr. Fungisai Nota is the Director of Research and Evaluation for AIDS Care Group. He is responsible for managing the 340B program, strategic planning, health outcomes and policy research, and grant writing. Dr. Nota holds a PhD in Applied Economics, a Master of Science in Economics, Bachelor of Arts degrees in Finance, Management and Economics, and he is currently pursuing a Masters in Public Health at Drexel University College of Medicine.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.