Written by; Tom Flynn, VP of Marketing
He straightened up a bit and spoke with a little extra bass in his voice, “Hell yeah, I’m proud of it. This is the biggest thing I’ve ever been a part of in my whole career.”
Of every great thing I saw in San Diego last week at the 340B conference, the pride in my client’s face was by far the best.
Wait, I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me add some context…
Last week I had an opportunity to attend the 340B Winter Coalition Conference. This was my first time attending the show, but my teammates, who are long time attendees expressed that this year’s program and exhibition event were outstanding. Turnout was very good, and the content and education materials were top notch. I took endless pages of notes and I was able to meet some of the most accomplished leaders in the 340B space. A sincere thank you is in order to 340B Health.
The most influential moment for me came on Tuesday night at our client event held at “The Deck” in San Diego’s beautiful Gaslamp District. We were thrilled to play host to over 150 pharmacy professionals and let our collective hair down for a little while. I struck up a conversation with a leader in the pharmacy division at a southeastern hospital network. We talked about the impact that the 340B program is having on his overall network.
He explained that his system was in the process of building a brand-new acute care facility. He quoted the estimated number of patients that the new facility would serve, and he described a few of the new services they would soon support in his historically underserved community.
He was told in a recent conversation with his CFO, that many of the bricks that were going into the new building were “340B bricks” and that there was no way his system could have afforded the project without a major contribution from the 340B program. The story was very impactful, but my client was quite understated as he explained it all to me. Eventually, I had to clarify, “Hey this sounds amazing. This sounds like a big deal. This is something you’re really proud of, right?”
I must have caught him off guard because he straightened up a bit and spoke with a little extra bass in his voice, “Hell yeah, I’m proud of it. This is the biggest thing I’ve ever been a part of in my whole career. This is why,” he added, looking me right in the eye, “I’m such an advocate for 340B. I’m seeing firsthand what this program can do.”
Of every great thing I saw in San Diego last week, the pride in my client’s face was by far the best. It’s an understatement to say we have to protect the 340B program. Manufacturers have a right to make money, I grant you, but the thought that this program is saving lives and keeping small facilities open is just too important to overlook. We have to protect the 340B program.