As HRSA's 340B Rebate Model Pilot moves toward its effective date, Valerie Bandy, PharmD, of Tecsys explains what drug-by-drug rebate tracking really demands from hospital and health system pharmacies.
News|Videos|September 18, 2026
How Rebate Timing Distorts a Pharmacy's 340B Books
Author(s)Valerie Bandy, PharmD, Stephen Appezzato
Rebate delays could force 340B hospitals to pay upfront and wait months for credit, distorting drug spend on the books. Valerie Bandy, PharmD, of Tecsys explains the fallout.
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In second part of her interview with Pharmaceutical Commerce, Valerie Bandy, PharmD, vice president of pharmacy solutions at Tecsys, digs into a problem that rarely makes it into the
Hospitals don't get to wait for a rebate before they pay a wholesaler or manufacturer. The drug is purchased, moves through the supply chain, and gets dispensed to a patient, while the rebate tied to that transaction might not arrive for months. In the meantime, Bandy explains, that lag makes medication costs and expenses look artificially inflated on a pharmacy's books, because the savings haven't been recognized or credited back to the right cost center yet. The result is a financial picture that doesn't reflect what's actually happening with the 340B program at that covered entity.
That distortion isn't just a bookkeeping footnote. Pharmacy leaders use this data every day to make purchasing and formulary decisions, manage inventory, and report on performance. When the numbers are delayed or inaccurate, it gets harder to make those calls correctly, and harder to report them to the people who need to see them. Bandy points out that the strain falls hardest on
Her larger point is that the industry has to look past individual rebate line items and think about the full life cycle of a transaction: what was purchased, what was dispensed, what was expected, and what was actually received. Manual reconciliation after the fact isn't built for that. Bandy argues manufacturers and health systems both need better governance, data integration, and technology that shows what's happening in real time, rather than piecing it together later.
Watch the first installment of Bandy’s interview with PC:
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