The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act revised the 340B program, which allows certain hospitals to obtain outpatient drugs at a discount from pharmaceutical manufacturers. The revisions expand the types of hospitals eligible to participate in the program. However, the revisions also bar disproportionate share hospitals, children’s hospitals and free-standing cancer hospitals from obtaining outpatient drugs through a GPO. Sole community hospitals, rural referral centers and critical access hospitals may continue to use GPOs.
In a letter to HRSA’s Director of Pharmacy Affairs Krista Pedley, AHA Executive Vice President Rick Pollack urges HRSA to delay the April 7 compliance data “to allow hospitals time to work with their vendors and wholesalers to address the many process and procedural challenges brought on by the Feb. 7 notice, to properly train staff to manage the new processes, and to ensure that these revised internal processes are working well.”
More Articles on the 340B Drug Discount Program:
Is Your 340B Program Prepared for an Audit?
Supreme Court Prohibits Public Hospitals From Suing for Drug Overcharges
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