October 5, 2012—The Office of Pharmacy Affairs (OPA) has thoroughly overhauled its Web site, including consolidating some sections, eliminating others, drastically reducing the number of navigation links on its home page, and significantly reorienting the entire site around the theme of program compliance.
The changeover occurred during the evening of Oct. 4-5.[ms-protect-content id=”2799″] A box on the home page directs those with questions to the Apexus/340B Prime Vendor Program’s ApexusAnswers service. In the past, those having questions were directed to the Pharmacy Services Support Center (PSSC), which ceased operations last week when the American Pharmacists Association’s (APhA) contract to operate it ended. APhA has been awarded a new contract to support OPA’s 340B covered entity audits and associated program compliance efforts.
The old site’s primary feature—its long, yellow-tinted News box—and the adjacent Current Issues/Highlight box have been consolidated into a single and much smaller News box. On the opposite side of the home page, the old site’s 18 navigation links have been reduced to just nine: Home, Eligibility & Registration, 340B Implementation, Program Requirements, Medicaid Exclusion, Program Integrity, Manufacturers, 340B Database, and FAQs.
The home page now features a brief description of 340B, stating that the program “requires drug manufacturers to provide outpatient drugs to eligible health care organizations at significantly reduced prices.”
“The 340B program is designed to provide a pricing benefit to safety-net providers,” the description continues. “It is the intention of the program that these providers, in turn, use these savings to enhance their services to patients.”[/ms-protect-content]