News

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.

FDA declined to approve Merck’s claim that its cholesterol-lowering drugs Zetia and Vytorin reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes in patients with coronary heart disease.

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.

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.

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.

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.

FDA has approved amphetamine extended-release orally disintegrating tablet (Adzenys XR-ODT, Neos Therapeutics, Inc.) for the treatment of ADHD in patients 6 years and older.

How at-risk negotiations with pharmaceutical manufacturers and medication adherence programs improve both sides of the healthcare value equation: patient outcomes and costs.

Over the past year, there has been some legislative movement at the federal and state levels. The following is a short list of key bills and what they might mean for healthcare providers.