News

A quick progress report on efforts to improve price transparency in the United States, as well as some state-by-state information.

Seniors who regularly took leading heartburn drugs such as Nexium, Prilosec and Prevacid (Takeda Pharmaceuticals) were 44% more likely to end up with dementia, according to a new study.

In one of the biggest drug pricing settlements in history, Pfizer is paying $784.6 million to settle claims alleging that the practices of its Wyeth subsidiary relating to the calculation of Medicaid rebates for Protonix (pantoprazole sodium) violated the Federal Civil False Claims Act and other laws.

Before it hits you, take time to consider effective benefit strategies

FDA has granted breakthrough therapy designation for durvalumab (MEDI4736, AstraZeneca) for the treatment of urothelial bladder cancer.

FDA has approved brivaracetam (Briviact, UCB, Inc.) as an add-on therapy for the treatment of partial onset-seizures in patients with epilepsy.

FDA issued a new guidance recommending that individuals who have been to areas with active Zika virus transmission, who have potentially have been exposed to the virus, or have had a confirmed Zika virus infection should not donate blood. Here are the other top 5 things to know about FDA's new guidelines on Zika blood transmissions.

In the fee-for-service world, physicians need to squeeze in more visits into less time. Here’s how value-based reimbursement is changing the model.

Launching a successful accountable care organization is not easy. Here are some tips from David Swieskowski, MD, MBA, president and chief accountable care officer at Mercy ACO.

CMS and AHIP, together with physician groups and other stakeholders, announce alignment and simplification of quality measures.

A treatment for community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP) garnered comparable results to moxifloxacin in a newly published late-phase study.

One of the biggest current areas of research is precision medicine, which will transform patient care for generations to come. Here's how one hospital is applying it.

Patients with chronic diseases who received a home visit in HealthPartners’ pilot MTM program reduced readmissions within the first year. Find out how.

A new report found that the majority of state Medicaid programs cannot afford hepatitis C medications, such as Harvoni and Sovaldi (Gilead Sciences), which can cost nearly $100,000 for a single course of treatment.

In another win for biosimilar drugs, FDA staff recently decided that Celltrion and Pfizer’s biosimilar (Remsima) to Johnson & Johnson’s Remicade for rheumatoid arthritis was “highly similar” to the branded drug.

It’s tough for managed care executives to keep up with clinical research, evidence, and studies on an ongoing basis. Here are some tips.

The telemedicine changes we have seen so far are nothing compared to what we’re likely to see in 2016.

Twenty American corporations join to improve the way employee healthcare benefits will be purchased in an effort to create better outcomes.

FDA has approved expanded use of daclatasvir (Daklinza, Bristol-Myers Squibb) in combination with Gilead Sciences' Sovaldi (sofosbuvir), for the treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C (HCV) genotype 1 or 3.

In one of the few arrangements of its kind, Cigna Corp and Aetna Inc. struck a deal with Novartis for a performance-based price for its heart failure drug, Entresto.

Payers and providers have traditionally operated on opposite sides of the tracks with limited collaboration, resulting in a disjointed and complicated experience for patients when accessing care.

The Zika virus, a mosquito-borne epidemic in Brazil that is causing birth defects, was recently reported in the U.S. Here are the top 5 things to know about the disease:

After receiving pressure from Congress, FDA announced several measures aimed at curbing opioid abuse. The new plan calls for increasing abuse-deterrent formulations of opioid medications and upping access to naloxone and alternative pain treatments.

Mercy Accountable Care Organization (ACO) has identified and successfully leveraged a critical factor to supplement its population health strategies.

PhRMA ad campaign features new patient and researcher stories.

Industry watchers weigh in following Covered California’s Peter Lee’s public bashing of UnitedHealth over the federal exchanges.

Much of the drug pricing debate in the United States in recent months has centered around the soaring prices of hepatitis C medications such as Harvoni and Sovaldi (Gilead Sciences), along with Technivie and Viekira Pak (AbbVie). However, the newly approved hepatitis C drug, Zepatier (elbasvir and grazoprevir, Merck) ups the pricing competition.

PBMs, insurers use cautious approach when managing these cholesterol-lowering drugs.