Pharmacy

Here are four reasons a clinical pharmacist should be part of care teams for chronically-ill, elderly, and at-risk patient populations.

Patient-centered pharmacies, which put consumers and their relationship with pharmacists and caregivers at the center of the business model, is producing improved outcomes.

FDA’s approval of the first generic version of Copaxone for treating patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis has industry insiders contemplating the impact on the generics market as well as payer coverage strategies.

Critics charge that the practice of adverse tiering to deter costly patients is violating the Affordable Care Act's coverage mandate.

Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol may achieve better health outcomes when using pharmacies that are part of performance-based networks, according to early results of a pay-for-performance program conducted by SCAN Health Plan and Express Scripts.

Consensus is building on the promise of genetic testing and other technological advances to help individualize testing, prevention and treatment for better outcomes.

The number of deaths from prescription pain relievers dropped 5% in 2012, and new tools are helping in the fight against opioid abuse.

Both public and private purchasers are in an important position to act as catalysts of change in managing specialty pharmacy.

Increasing unnecessary regulations on drug plans could inflict higher costs on the 220 million Americans who get their medications through a managed drug plan, according to a new report.

In the first release of its star ratings, only 251 hospitals scored “five out of five stars” on Medicare’s Hospital Compare site.

Controversy surrounds the 340B Drug Discount Program, and many industry leaders agree that the healthcare law plays a large part.

UnitedHealth Group’s announcement that its free-standing pharmacy care services business, OptumRx, will merge with Catamaran Corp., the fourth largest pharmacy benefit manager in the U.S., makes sense, according to industry experts.

Read what a panel of distinguished industry experts has to say about the increasingly difficult job of managing specialty pharmaceuticals.

Health plans struggling to rein in pharmacy costs are using mail service, disease management programs, financial incentives for generics, member cost sharing, and, increasingly, limited and closed formularies.

Health plans and providers play a critical role in maintaining U.S. vaccination rates and can help reverse the recent MMR vaccination-rate decline, a factor responsible for the recent re-emergence of measles.

In what is being called a first-of-its-kind joint effort, the Texas Medical Association and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas are launching a resource initiative to assist independent physicians with providing accountable care.

New study findings suggest that an epigenetic test could be created to identify those individuals early in the process of developing diabetes mellitus, providing hope for preventing the disease.

Two recent studies show that members who obtain health insurance through state or federal insurance exchanges use more specialty and generic drugs than their counterparts in commercial plans.

A reprieve has been granted for Medicare beneficiaries who may have been confused or misinformed about the pharmacy details of their 2015 Aetna prescription drug plans.

Limiting drug insurance is not an effective strategy for reducing the rising healthcare costs in the U.S., according to an analysis published online this month in the American Journal of Public Health.

Health insurer Anthem has reached a deal that makes Gilead Sciences’ Harvoni the primary treatment for patients with hepatitis C, following close on the heels of hep C drug announcements by CVS Health and Express Scripts.

Drug shortages and manufacturer consolidation are leaving their imprint on the price of some generic drugs.

Specialty pharmaceuticals will have a profound impact on the practice of pharmacy over the next 10 years, affecting all pharmacy practice settings and accelerate the importance of medication management to ensure the appropriate use of these important therapeutic agents.

Retail prices for brand name prescription drugs widely used by older Americans shot up by an average of nearly 13% in 2013, more than eight times faster than the 1.5% general inflation rate, according to a new AARP Public Policy Institute report.

To address local market needs of public health insurance exchange customers, Cigna has voluntarily agreed to the request of the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (FLOIR) to modify its formulary structure for generic versions of specialty drug medications.