January 8, 2013—The Office of Pharmacy Affairs (OPA) is holding a Jan. 10 webinar for federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and health center “look-alikes” about their need to recertify their eligibility for 340B drug discounts next month.
The Affordable Care Act required OPA to recertify the eligibility of all 340B covered entities annually.[ms-protect-content id=”2799″] FQHCs are among the last entity types to go through the process. Hemophilia treatment centers (HTC) are also being recertified for the first time in February and OPA held a webinar for them on Jan. 7.
When recertification of these two categories is finished, OPA will have completed the cycle of recertifying all 340B covered entities.
OPA recently updated its user guide to recertification for covered entities. The newest version is available here.
Hospitals recertified their eligibility for 340B drug discounts for the first time in April and May 2012. An OPA spokesperson said the exact date of their recertification this year has not been set yet but it will be in late spring or early summer. The office recently announced on its 340B database home page that annual recertification for sexually transmitted disease and tuberculosis (STD/TB) clinics will take place this summer or fall. STD/TB clinics were among the first to be recertified in late 2011 and early 2012.
The annual recertification requirement is part of a broader drive to improve 340B program oversight. As part of the initiative, OPA’s 340B Peer to Peer (P2P) Community is holding a Jan. 30 webinar for all categories of covered entities on creating 340B policies and procedures. Providers must belong to the P2P network to participate. For more information, visit Healthcarecommunities.org.[/ms-protect-content]