News

The healthcare industry is calling for greater connectivity, or interoperability standards to increase adoption, safety and implementation.

Consumers are demanding fundamental changes in the U.S. healthcare system to gain more timely access and better coordination of healthcare, according to a survey.

There's been a continued interest in how medication adherence can improve both health outcomes and patient safety.

Health policy experts have been debating how to obtain more reliable, unbiased information on which drugs and medical procedures are most effective.

There is more focus on linking payment with quality, whether as pay for performance, value-based purchasing or restructured employee benefits packages that modify out-of-pocket expenses based on quality of providers, according to experts.

Health plans that coordinate their health savings account offerings with banks increase the likelihood that individuals establish and contribute to an HSA account, experts say.

While experts agree that electronic records in any form save time and increase patient safety, how EHRs are implemented and integrated can make all the difference.

Will generic drugs, patent expirations, safety issues and a dry pipeline for high-incident diseases make room for a new drug paradigm?

Disease registries are gaining in popularity as electronic tools designed to give physicians clinical support to deliver appropriate care.

As far back as 1971, Mickey Herbert has believed that a market-based system of healthcare delivery is the only option for America. Now president and CEO of ConnectiCare, a commercial and Medicare Advantage insurer, Herbert still believes in the market-based system.

More than three years after Minnesota-based HealthPartners drew national attention after stating it would no longer pay hospitals for costs of treatment related to never events Medicare and private health plans are jumping on the never-event bandwagon.

Healthcare leaders must begin forecasting where Americans will draw the line on their generosity when it comes to the healthy subsidizing the sick, the insured subsidizing the uninsured, and the wealthier subsidizing the less wealthy.

Commonwealth Fund Ranking (2007): 24

Erythropoietin, a humoral factor produced predominantly in the kidney, stimulates red blood cell production in the bone marrow. Erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) have been used for years in the treatment of anemia, with extensive experience and benefits in anemia of chronic kidney disease. Recent data have suggested adverse consequences with use of ESAs, perhaps relating to inappropriate use, and prompting release of guidelines to ensure safe use and maximize benefit. When prescribing ESAs, indications, requirements to monitor laboratory parameters (hemoglobin levels and ferrokinetics), and clinical status need to be stringently followed.

FDA has launched the Sentinel Initiative to expand and improve medical product risk detection and evaluation. Instead of relying on passive, voluntary adverse event (AE) reports sent to FDA by physicians and pharmacists, the agency would be able to detect safety signals much more quickly through links to health information databases containing information about millions of patients.

Two randomized, double-blind, phase 3 clinical trials demonstrated that raltegravir plus optimized background therapy was more effective than optimized background therapy alone in suppressing resistant HIV-1.

In a nested, case-control study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, investigators observed that the use of selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) increased the risk of upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract bleeding; this increased risk was also observed with the serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) venlafaxine. This risk may be increased when the agents are used concomitantly with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and decreased when used concomitantly with acid-suppressing agents.

The first phase of a double-blind, randomized, parallel-group, multicenter, outpatient study demonstrated that treatment with the combination of etanercept and methotrexate was more effective in inducing both clinical remission and radiographic nonprogression than methotrexate alone in patients with early moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

A recent multinational, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial demonstrated that administration of aliskiren provides additional renal protection to patients with hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and nephropathy who are already receiving optimal antihypertensive therapy and renal protective therapy with the angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) losartan.

Among the new data presented at the 68th Scientific Sessions of the ADA were the results of phase 3 trials of the investigational agents liraglutide, ABT-335, saxagliptin, and alogliptin.

Tocilizumab, an investigational agent for the treatment of moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis, is a humanized anti-IL-6 receptor monoclonal antibody. Because tocilizumab contains a mouse monoclonal antibody grafted onto human immunoglobulin, the grafted antibody is less antigenic and has a longer half-life than the mouse antibody. When administered, tocilizumab inhibits IL-6 activity by competing for both the membrane-bound and soluble types of IL-6 receptors, thus eliminating IL-6 transduction into the cell.

In the Antiarrhythmic Trial with Dronedarone in Moderate to Severe CHF Evaluating Morbidity Decrease (ANDROMEDA) investigators observed that dronedarone, an anti-arrhythmic agent related to amiodarone, was associated with increased mortality in patients who were hospitalized for symptomatic heart failure (HF) (New York Heart Association [NYHA] class II, III, or IV) and left ventricular systolic dysfunction.

Recent FDA approvals and indications (through August 2008) related to Concerta, Avodart, Prandimet, Trivaris, Reclast, Requip XL, Aciphex, Aptivus, Kinrix, Pentacel, and Durezol.

New indication: Duloxetine (Cymbalta), an SSNRI, was approved on June 13, 2008, for the management of fibromyalgia

Generic drugs approved by FDA (through August 2008) including risperidone tablets.

Recent FDA action (through August 2008) related to long-acting depot preparation of testosterone, pancrealipase capsules, human papillomavirus (HPV) quadrivalent (types 6, 11, 16, 18) vaccine, recombinant, tolvaptan, etanercept, ustekinumab, and cysteamine hydrocortisone dual-release table.

New indication: Bortezomib (Velcade), an antineoplastic agent, was approved on June 20, 2008, for the initial treatment of multiple myeloma.

Drug Watch: Agents in late-stage development for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (August 2008)