Jennifer Garces de Marcilla
Healthcare Cybersecurity: Securing Your Digital ...

Cyberattacks targeting the supply chain are an increasingly prevalent threat in the healthcare industry, especially as the modern healthcare supply chain contains significant digital elements, such as the patient engagement vendors that provide public-facing digital tools. These third-party apps and patient-facing tools process sensitive patient data and connect with a healthcare organization’s source systems on the supply chain. As such, they are tempting targets for cybercriminals, who can sell this data on the black market or lock it up with ransomware until they are paid.

Healthcare Cybersecurity: Securing Your Digital Supply Chain & Patient-Facing Tech
Jennifer Garces de Marcilla
The Role of mHealth Solutions In Patient ...

Patient education is about more than simply spreading knowledge about the disease. It can also empower patients to better live with their condition and avoid complications–an approach known as therapeutic patient education[¹]

The Role of mHealth Solutions In Patient Education
Guest Post
How to Increase Patient Adoption of Digital ...

Digital technology can do wonders when it comes to streamlining the work of delivering efficient quality care to patients. The use of patient portals, EHRs, mhealth apps, and wearable tech can all empower patients to be more active in their healthcare, get faster treatment, and access preventative care earlier on. But with all the capabilities of modern technology, we find that many patients are slow to adopt digital tools. If this is the case for your healthcare organization, we recommend the following tips to increase adoption.

How to Increase Patient Adoption of Digital Tools
Guest Post
Technology Integration Challenges in Connected ...

Technology has a lot of potential to improve efficiency and health outcomes in the complex practice of healthcare, from time-sensitive interventions in the hospital environment to long-term preventative measures among patient populations. Diagnostics, data management, patient engagement, and personalized medicine all stand to benefit from greater technology integration in a holistic, connected care model. Despite this, there are many hurdles that prevent technology from being adopted as quickly or effectively as it could be. Let’s take a look at the challenges contemporary healthcare organizations face.

Technology Integration Challenges in Connected Care
Guest Post
The 7 Essentials Steps For a Secure Patient ...

Healthcare services are meeting patient demand by becoming increasingly digitized. These digital healthcare services are often developed by third parties and access electronic health records (EHR), revenue cycle management (RCM) systems, and other databases that include sensitive and legally protected information. While these electronic services are beneficial to both patients and providers, they create an increasingly complex software supply chain, with more potential vulnerabilities that are being targeted by hackers[¹]. Healthcare providers can find it difficult to manage effective oversight of these supply chains - including the relationships between different software tools, who has access to what data, and where there might be potential weaknesses.

The 7 Essentials Steps For a Secure Patient Portal

340B

How Healthy is Your 340B Contract Pharmacy Program?

How Healthy is Your 340B Contract Pharmacy Program?

As drug manufacturers request more oversight and scrutiny surrounding the 340B program intensifies, compliance with regulations must be your top priority when participating in the 340B program. Recently, 340B eligible covered entities utilizing contract pharmacies have become a primary target for drug manufacturers and Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) seeking to stifle the overall program under the guise of preventing duplicate discounts. As such, now is a good time to evaluate the health of your contract pharmacy program.

340B FQHC Extended Registration

340B FQHC Extended Registration

The 340B Program will be accepting Health Center Program grantee registrations beyond the standard two-week registration period (April 1-15). Health centers will be able to register a site that has been verified as implemented and the site status is reflected as “active” in EHBs Form 5B through June 9, after which the system will close to prepare for the July 1 start. A similar quarterly registration timeframe will be employed each quarter.

340B Mega Guidance Withdrawn and Sent Back to HHS

340B Mega Guidance Withdrawn and Sent Back to HHS

In a move that should surprise no one, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) announced that the 340B Program Omnibus Guidelines, aka the 340B Mega Guidance, was withdrawn on January 30th. The proposed rule, which was released in draft form in August  2015, was widely expected to be finalized last December. As a unit of OMB, OIRA speaks directly for President Trump's executive branch.  

340B: Program Critical to FQHCs Under Fire

340B: Program Critical to FQHCs Under Fire

The 340B Program has become an important source of revenue for many Federally Qualified Health Centers. Many fear that without 340B, their programs will not survive. With a draft Mega Guidance under consideration by HRSA and new CMS rules governing Medicaid reimbursement, 340B is going to change. The extent to which this will affect FQHCs is currently a matter of speculation. Meanwhile, in order to understand where this crucial program is likely headed, it is important to know where we are now, and how we got here. 

Besides not dying young, one of the advantages of being around for a long time is that you gain perspective. 

340B Drug Pricing Program Omnibus Guidance Comments

340B Drug Pricing Program Omnibus Guidance Comments

October 27, 2015 was the last day to submit comments related to the 340B Drug Pricing Program Omnibus Guidance. The proposed changes to the program have the potential to adversely affect health centers and the populations they serve (For a detailed analysis, read our article How the 340B "Mega Guidance" will affect your FQHC or Look-Alike.). Following are our comments:

How the 340B "Mega Guidance" will affect your FQHC or Look-Alike

How the 340B "Mega Guidance" will affect your FQHC or Look-Alike

The Draft 340B Drug Pricing Program “Mega Guidance” is an attempt by HRSA to provide clarification relating to 340B implementation. Our analysis addresses the issues which have the greatest potential to affect FQHC programs. This “Mega Guidance” strongly confirms a number of positive issues relating to the program; however the focus is largely on compliance and abuse prevention. While we support and applaud this effort, in some cases there will likely be potentially detrimental effects to our programs and the patients we serve. 

340B Audits and Compliance 101

340B Audits and Compliance 101

Covered entities participating in the 340B Drug Pricing Program must ensure program integrity and maintain accurate records documenting compliance with all program requirements. They are subject to audit by the manufacturer or the federal government. Failure to comply may make the 340B covered entity liable to manufacturers for refunds of discounts or cause the covered entity to be removed from the 340B program.

340B DOES Benefit the Patient!

340B DOES Benefit the Patient!

Congress created the 340B program in 1992 to help uninsured indigent patients gain better access to prescription medications and to allow health centers stretch scarce federal resources.  The 340B program is vitally important for safety net providers and their most vulnerable patients.  It lowers drug costs for providers, allowing them to pass along these savings to their patients and maintain and expand other health care services.  Congress intended for covered entities to use the benefit of the discount to reach more eligible patients and provide more comprehensive services, and the 340B program has met these essential goals.

 
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