OREANDA-NEWS. December 20, 2013. McKesson Health Systems is highlighting its comprehensive suite of indigent-care solutions for hospital and health-system pharmacies at this year’s American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Midyear Clinical Meeting (Booth #849), currently underway.

“Even with the advent of the Affordable Care Act, a significant number of patients will remain uninsured. Hospital pharmacies will still seek assistance through 340B and other indigent-care programs, which means they need a strong partner to implement solutions and realize the benefits of these important safety-net programs,” said Scott Miller, senior vice president of McKesson Health Systems.

“Building on McKesson’s leading distribution capabilities, we provide in-depth expertise and a range of unique solutions to assist with indigent-care management and increase customers’ confidence that they have the most cost-efficient and comprehensive programs in place.”

McKesson 340B Solutions
The federal 340B Drug Pricing Program offers significant savings to the nation’s safety-net providers to support the cost of serving vulnerable and low-income patients, but complying with the program’s inventory management, auditing and tracking requirements can be cumbersome. McKesson offers the following services and products to support hospitals:

McKesson 340B Solutions Consulting: Many hospitals don’t optimize their participation in the 340B program because regulatory compliance, management, auditing and tracking requirements are complex and resource intensive. McKesson’s Pharmacy Optimization team provides consulting, implementation services and pharmacy practice resources to hospitals and health-system pharmacies to help reduce costs, improve efficiency and uncover untapped opportunities available under the 340B program. With strong consulting depth from accomplished pharmacy experts, the 340B consulting team can help navigate the complexities of 340B by providing actionable recommendations and plans to optimize program participation. Integrated with Macro Helix’s industry-leading software platform, McKesson’s holistic approach and operational support provide an end-to-end solution for 340B management.

Macro Helix 340B Architect Software: Macro Helix has helped approximately 450 community and academic hospitals serve their indigent patients while increasing operational efficiency with its sophisticated, intuitive software. The 340B Architect software provides transparent tracking, management and replenishment designed to help pharmacies maintain compliance with the 340B program. The software tracks all eligible outpatient drug utilization at the NDC and patient level, as well as 340B ordering of non-wholesaler and non-pharmacy 340B-eligible items, and easily integrates with McKesson’s ordering platform, McKesson Connect. With the agility to quickly implement solutions for new rules and regulations (e.g., automated orphan drug exclusion management), to support compliance, Macro Helix helps assist with audits through standard and custom reports as well as a dedicated audit team. Macro Helix also assists eligible 340B entities in evaluating and establishing 340B contract-dispensing agreements with local and national pharmacies, including hospitals and other types of providers.

“We bring extensive knowledge and support across the entire healthcare continuum, from the hospital and ambulatory setting to retail and alternate site pharmacies,” said Andrew Wilson, vice president, 340B Solutions. “With deep industry experience, McKesson’s 340B team can offer valuable insights and support best practices to address the broader strategic challenges that health systems are facing today.”

“Using Macro Helix’s 340B Architect product, Carolinas HealthCare System is able to accurately identify 340B-eligible patients as well as provide information needed for an official HRSA audit and for ongoing self-audit activities. Further, McKesson has been progressive and creative in identifying new mechanisms to help us be compliant with the ever-evolving requirements of the 340B program, and has adjusted its contracting and distribution processes accordingly,” said Bob Carta, vice president, division of pharmacy services, Carolinas HealthCare System. “We appreciate and regularly avail ourselves of the in-depth knowledge of McKesson’s 340B team of experts. I can’t imagine a better partner to optimize our financial management of the segment of our budget that consumes 80% of our resources.”

McKesson MedSource® Patient Assistance Recovery Program
Managing manufacturer patient-assistance programs (PAPs) is time consuming and requires staying current with program requirements and various enrollment processes. McKesson’s MedSource program reduces the time, cost and hassle for hospitals by combining a dedicated PAP recovery manager with proprietary software and tools for tracking, reporting and managing hospitals’ participation in the programs. MedSource works seamlessly with legacy hospital-pharmacy and accounting systems, so it complements existing workflow and processes.

“I continue to be impressed and appreciative of MedSource’s success in recovering costs incurred with our non-resource patient population. With the growing number of patients in our area who need healthcare services but lack insurance and/or financial resources, the service of the MedSource program is needed more than ever,” said Marshall Steglich, director of pharmacy, Houston Northwest Medical Center. “Recouping the money allows our facility to continue to provide service to underinsured patients while making the monthly operating picture a bit less negative. I also appreciate the monthly reports illustrating the dollars that were recovered.”

“Carolinas HealthCare System has a commitment to serve all patients regardless of their ability to pay, and McKesson is a crucial partner in facilitating that mission,” said Bob Carta. “McKesson assists Carolinas HealthCare System in stretching healthcare resources to serve as many indigent patients as possible through these important programs.”