June 26, 2014—The Health Resources and Services Administration yesterday posted six more brief summaries of results from the 340B covered entity audits it conducted during fiscal year 2013.[ms-protect-content id=”2799″]
The audits were of four disproportionate share hospitals, one children’s hospital, and one critical access hospital. HRSA made no adverse findings in five of these audits. It found that one DSH hospital dispensed 340B drugs prescribed by an ineligible provider and dispensed 340B drugs to non-patients. It also found that the hospital’s Medicaid Provider Number was entered incorrectly in the 340B Medicaid Exclusion File. The sanction listed is “repayment to manufacturers.” In March, HRSA published summaries of 13 audits it conducted last fiscal year.
HRSA has audited 218 covered entities during the past three fiscal years, Office of Pharmacy Affairs Director Cmdr. Krista Pedley said during an American Health Law Association webinar earlier this week. HRSA previously disclosed that it had audited 51 in fiscal 2012 and 94 in fiscal 2013, which would put fiscal 2014 total to date at 73. The current fiscal year ends on Sept. 30.
During the webinar, Cmdr. Pedley repeated that her office expects to do twice as many audits in fiscal 2015 as it will ultimately do this year. In remarks about 340B program oversight that echoed those she made at a drug-industry meeting earlier this month, she also mentioned again that the Health and Human Services Inspector General is conducting a 340B compliance audit of a drug manufacturer.[/ms-protect-content]