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Sentry Data Systems helps large children’s hospital improve 340B capture rate by 29% [VIDEO]





Sentry Data Systems helps large children’s hospital improve 340B capture rate by 29%


Sentry Data Systems, a trusted leader in 340B management and compliance, has been helping healthcare organizations establish strong 340B programs and reach more underserved patients since 2003. From innovative technology to expert knowledge and support, they are passionate about helping their customers optimize 340B benefit with powerful solutions that deliver the precision, compliance, insights, and savings needed to run a successful program.


Recently, one of Sentry’s long-standing customers, a large, nationally-ranked children’s hospital, sought to deepdive into its 340B capture rate to identify overlooked benefit opportunities. In doing so, they leveraged the following Sentry solutions:


SenturionTM Professional Services

Comprised of some of the industry’s most educated and credentialed pharmacy experts, Sentry’s elite Senturion Services teams combine over 120 years of in-depth knowledge and hands-on experience to provide dedicated resources who can take your 340B program to the next level.


Sentrex® eRx Eligibility Check

Using your existing e-prescription data, the Sentrex eRx eligibility check module links prescriptions to the service location, reducing audit risks and rapidly optimizing financial benefit to improve patient safety and quality of care.


The Customer 

The hospital, founded in the 1980s, is now one of the largest children’s hospitals in the country, and is nationally ranked in multiple specialties, reflecting their long-standing commitment to patient care. The organization provides inpatient, outpatient, trauma and emergency care across more than 70 pediatric subspecialties and participates in the 340B Drug Pricing Program. 


The Challenge 

Lower than expected capture rates

A Sentry customer for ten years, the organization realized its hospital-owned pharmacy’s 340B capture rate — the percentage of prescriptions that are eligible to be purchased through the 340B program — was very low for a lobby pharmacy, and executives believed they were missing significant savings opportunities from drugs that should have been 340B-eligible but weren’t being coded accurately.


Part of the challenge stemmed from the fact that the hospital treats many seriously ill children, including those with cancer and those in need of organ transplantation. These conditions require a large percentage of compounded prescriptions — medications in which ingredients and dosage are personalized for each patient — which also happen to be very expensive.


“A large percentage of our pediatric patients receive special compounded prescriptions, and we were not capturing any of those through 340B,” says the director of process optimization at the hospital. 


The Change

Working with a trusted partner

Having used Sentry solutions since 2010, the hospital chose to work with Sentry’s Senturion Services team of experts, who carefully analyzed and identified two distinct areas where 340B capture rates could be improved:

-Processing compounded prescriptions: By working closely with the pharmacy manager, the Senturion team was able to identify the correct data elements and file formats to identify and process the individual components of compound prescriptions that would be eligible for 340B pricing.

-Capturing prescriptions at discharge: The Senturion Services team realized that there was a high degree of variability in how physicians were writing discharge prescriptions. By leveraging Sentry’s eRx Eligibility Check application, the hospital was immediately able to increase their compliant capture of discharge prescriptions.


The Results

Dedication and commitment to success

“We selected Sentry because of its industry reputation, our familiarity with its other quality products, and our existing vendor relationships,” says, the hospital’s manager of pharmacy business services.


In turn, the Senturion Services team focused on delivering significant results. They leveraged their wealth of knowledge and experience in the areas of compounded prescriptions and discharge prescriptions — two areas of operation that are integral to a successful 340B program — and made a swift and impressive impact on the hospital’s 340B capture rate. In just six months, the hospital increased its 340B capture rate by 29%.


“Sentry pulled all their resources. We had daily phone calls with them for the first few months. The Senturion Services team was very responsive. We couldn’t have gotten the results that we got without that level of dedication on both sides,” says the director of process optimization.







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340B