News

As the struggle to halt healthcare costs continues, Maryland has uniquely managed to contain hospital reimbursement.

When it comes to big health plan payers, hospitals aren't feeling the love. That's the feedback from Revive Public Relations' fifth annual national payer survey.

Up to 30% of employers might drop employee coverage after 2014.

Mississippi consistently ranks low in health measures.

A main theme of new rules for state-based health insurance exchanges is flexibility for states.

Private healthcare premiums increased by nearly 15% from $697 billion to $801 billion between 2005 and 2009, reports the National Institute for Health Care Management.

There's a bill working its way through California that would require health plans to standardize their prior authorization paperwork.

Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber signed legislation that will transition the state's Medicaid fee-for-service to care coordination

About 1 in 10 computer-generated prescriptions includes at least 1 error, and one-third of those has potential for harm, which is consistent with the error rate for paper-written prescriptions, according to a new study published online June 29 in the Journal of the American Medical Infomatics Association.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released revised recommendations for postpartum contraceptive use based on an assessment of new evidence, according to an article published in the July 8 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Patients treated with belatacept (Nulojix) are at an increased risk for developing 2 potentially fatal complications: post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD), predominantly involving the central nervous system (CNS) and progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), according to a recent Safety Alert. The risk of PTLD is higher for transplant patients who have never been exposed to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and therefore is indicated for use only in transplant patients who are EBV seropositive.

FDA has approved ticagrelor (Brilinta, AstraZeneca) tablets to reduce the rate of heart attack and cardiovascular death in adult patients with acute coronary syndrome.

The concentration of the influenza drug oseltamivir phosphate (Tamiflu, Genentech) for oral suspension has been reduced from 12 mg/mL to 6 mg/mL to reduce the possibility of prescribing and dosing confusion that can lead to medication errors, according to FDA.

Nesiritide cannot be recommended in the broad population of patients with acute decompensated heart failure, according to the results of a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is concerned about the increasing potential in gonorrhea patients for resistance to cephalosporin.

Medications with anticholinergic activity increase the cumulative risk of cognitive impairment and death, according to findings from a study published online June 24 in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society.

Novartis announced that it has stopped early its phase 3 trial of everolimus (Afinitor) plus exemestane in women with estrogen receptor-positive locally-advanced or metastatic breast cancer after an interim analysis showed that the primary end point of progression-free survival was met, the company said.

A recent study raises safety concerns associated with the use of varenicline among tobacco users. Use of the drug was associated with a 72% increased risk of serious adverse cardiovascular events and deserves further investigation, according to results of the study, which was published July 4 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

FDA has issued a new draft guidance to facilitate the development and review of companion diagnostics ? tests used to help healthcare professionals determine whether a patient with a particular disease or condition should receive a particular drug therapy or how much of the drug to give. The draft document is intended to provide companies with guidance on the agency's policy for reviewing a companion diagnostic and the corresponding therapy.

Dronedarone (Multaq, Sanofi), which is approved for nonpermanent atrial fibrillation (AF), was being tested on patients with permanent AF. However, that trial, PALLAS (Permanent Atrial fibrillation outcome Study using Dronedarone on top of standard therapy) phase 3b, has been terminated because it was causing increased cardiovascular events.

Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) may lower diabetes (DM) risk in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or psoriasis, according to a study published in the June 22 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

A voluntary nationwide retail level recall of generic pain-relief tablets combining

Exposure to fluoxetine and paroxetine in early pregnancy is associated with a small but established risk of specific cardiac anomalies, according to a study published in the July issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Chronic self-reported use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and hypertension is associated with harmful outcomes and alternative methods of pain relief should be considered, according to a study in the July issue of The American Journal of Medicine.

A new analysis released by the Kaiser Family Foundation?s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured provides an overview of online applications for Medicaid and/or Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) has designated roughly 2,500 physicians in 770 practices across the state as patient-centered medical homes (PCMH), a 28% increase from the 1,800 designated PCMH physicians in 2010.

A new analysis released by the Kaiser Family Foundation?s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured provides an overview of online applications for Medicaid and/or Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

Pennsylvania?s Independence Blue Cross (IBC) is changing the way it pays primary care physicians via its Integrated Provider Performance Incentive Plan (IPPIP).