by Paul O’Toole, Sr. Director of Strategic Initiatives, Brightree
If your pharmacy participates in the 340B drug pricing program, manually managing your data and reporting could be costing you more than you think. Some pharmacies are lucky enough to have a 340B expert sitting on their team, but we know that many businesses rely on on-call employees to organize and submit data to Third Party Administrators (TPAs) on a regular schedule. Either way, the nuanced documentation required for each payer, item, or physician takes specialized knowledge to complete and – as anyone who’s had to resubmit 340B data will tell you – needs to be done right the first time.
So how can you streamline this process to guarantee that you quickly receive all the reimbursements you’re owed? The simplest solution that can save you both time and money is to automate 340B documentation with specific software integrations. Let’s take a look at how centralizing and automating your 340B management can:
Any automated software workflow is designed to take complex decision-making off of your staff’s to-do list. 340B integrations will specifically help you manage data, track claims validations, and send reports to TPAs without manual entry. Using a set of operating rules easily customized by your team, the software application will determine exactly what data needs to be sent where and when.
No more painstakingly parsing through documentation, entering data into a spreadsheet, and manually creating reports for reimbursement. Instead, software designed for 340B compliance will automatically analyze all government-mandated requirements – plus any unique considerations for your specific covered entities – to produce and send an accurate report on a customized schedule. Many of these applications allow you to easily adjust your program’s parameters to account for new inventory, prescribers, and payers as you go, meaning your system can keep up with everyday developments without high-dollar technical programming resources.
Switching to automated reporting immediately frees up your employees to do what they do best: provide excellent service to your patients and partners. With that in mind, let’s look at a few other ways streamlining your 340B workflows with specialized software can benefit your pharmacy business.
Accuracy in your 340B reporting matters not only to stay compliant with government regulations, but to ensure that you’re receiving every reimbursement that you’re owed. Your business can quickly lose out on earned revenue by sending TPAs:
Humans are excellent at so many interpersonal and intellectual tasks – but software will always win out when it comes to quickly and accurately analyzing data. When your data is stored, accessed, and synthesized by an automated program designed solely for that task, instances of error in your reports immediately plummet. With fewer errors comes more payments, all with less effort on the part of your team.
Strict reporting deadlines are an unavoidable fact of 340B program participation, and it can be a challenge to coordinate report submissions amongst your team. You may have experienced penalties or lost revenue in the past for not having an accurate report submitted on time, simply by virtue of human error and unforeseen roadblocks accessing or verifying information. Automations take the manual scheduling and submission tasks off your plate and guarantee that every report arrives on time.
This type of software is designed to recognize when each report is due and alert your team to any missing information prior to automatically sending the report to a TPA. This gives you the opportunity to correct any errors (should they arise) and feel confident that you’re never missing out on revenue.
All of the above are crucial for ensuring your pharmacy stays compliant with government regulations and is permitted to continue participation in the 340B program. Automated software is designed to reduce inaccuracies in your reports by making intelligent decisions based on compliance data. You’ll see fewer compliance errors and reduce the time you spend resubmitting incorrect reports.
Ready to start improving your cash flow with enhanced and automated 340B data management? If you’re a Brightree customer, you have access to our Brightree 340B Reporter designed to help you manage 340B workflows. Otherwise, contact Brightree today for a free consultation and product demonstration.
Paul O’Toole has been involved in the healthcare software market for the past 25+ years, focusing on the post-acute care software market for the past eight years. Paul brings a broad set of skills to Brightree, including sales, installation services, customer support, and software development core competencies.
Paul O’Toole has been involved in the healthcare software market for the past 25+ years, focusing on the post-acute care software market for the past eight years. Paul brings a broad set of skills to Brightree, including sales, installation services, customer support, and software development core competencies.
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