News

HIPAA rules expect health organizations to protect and secure a wide variety of personal data

Nurses also identify lifestyle issues during yearly kitchen table conversations

Costly chronic conditions increase with age

HHS will use aggregated data to analyze health plans’ risk pools and administer reinsurance by tapping into Edge Servers

In Iowa, the Blue Zones Project has community buy-in

Workers have their own ideas on who's getting the best deal in health coverage

Delaware's law aims to increase access while plans manage 15% annual trend in specialty drugs

Plans want more and better data on drug quality

A survey of New Jersey physicians reveals concern about reimbursement and changes to practice structures

In a Drug Safety Communication, FDA has reported that a patient in Europe being treated for multiple sclerosis and who had no history of using natalizumab (Tysabri) developed progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) while taking fingolimod (Gilenya).

Eleven states have reduced antipsychotic use in nursing home residents by at least 15%, meeting a CMS partnership goal set last year.

The new fixed-combination of brinzolamide 1% plus brimonidine 0.2% (Simbrinza Suspension, Alcon Laboratories) is a safe and effective option for lowering IOP in patients with glaucoma or ocular hypertension uncontrolled on monotherapy.

One in 10 Americans admit taking someone else’s Rx, according to an ongoing Reuters/psos online survey. About a quarter of those people used the prescription drugs to get high, according to the survey

Insulin pumps control blood sugar in children with diabetes better than insulin injections, according to a new study.

Drinking large amounts of coffee may be bad for under-55s, according to a recent study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Pharmacists in Canada were recently given broader responsibilities including, in certain provinces, prescribing privileges, vaccination abilities, and the ability to order and interpret laboratory tests. This newly expanded role for Canadian pharmacists can benefit both patients and physicians, according to an article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Drug evaluation and selection models are changing. Safety and efficacy have become the starting point for consideration by many payers. What they really want to see is evidence of superior performance in real world patient populations.

According to FDA, the risk of peripheral neuropathy occurs only with fluoroquinolones that are taken by mouth or by injection.

The majority of antibiotics prescribed for adults in ambulatory care settings are broad-spectrum agents, most commonly fluoroquinolones and macrolides. These are frequently prescribed for conditions where no antibiotic therapy is needed at all, such as for bronchitis and colds, which are caused by viruses, according to a study published online July 25, 2013, in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.

Alabama has targeted so-called “doctor shopping” and Rx diversion with three bills designed to stop such lawbreakers.

Despite last season’s flu outbreak, less than half the people surveyed (46%) by CVS/pharmacy said they were more likely to get a flu shot this year.

Accountable care organizations (ACOs) are groups of doctors, hospitals, and other healthcare providers, who come together voluntarily to give coordinated high quality care to the patients they serve. Coordinated care helps ensure that patients, especially the chronically ill, get the right care at the right time, with the goal of avoiding unnecessary duplication of services and preventing medical errors. When an ACO succeeds in both delivering high-quality care and spending healthcare dollars more wisely, it will share in the savings it achieves for the Medicare program.1 The overall goal of the ACO is to reduce costs by focusing on preventative care and disease management.

New skills, new tools and better care.

It is estimated that 30 million people will gain access to medical care beginning in 2014, with implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). Administratively, the federal government and most states have not worked out the details of how patients will gain access to the healthcare system, let alone receive care. Primary care providers (PCPs) are ill-prepared to accept this enormous influx of new patients, which will place an even greater strain on the already strapped primary care workforce. Estimates are that an additional 17,000 PCPs are currently needed, and another 40,000 PCPs may be needed by 2025 to care for the nation’s aging population. How best to handle this large influx of patients into the healthcare system is at issue.

Forty hospitals report 3,500 deaths avoided and improvements in four significant measures, including early elective deliveries

The American Migraine Prevalence and Prevention (AMPP) Study recommends new options for those with cardiovascular event histories who also need migraine treatment

Results from a health economic and outcomes research (HECOR) simulation analysis show that canagliflozin (Invokana, Janssen), along with lifestyle management, may reduce long-term complications and associated costs for adult patients with type 2 diabetes compared to a treatment sequence without canagliflozin.

In July of 2012, a provision in the newly ratified Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA), paved the way for the FDA to further assist drug manufacturers in expediting the development and introduction of new drugs demonstrating early signs of advancement in the treatment of key conditions. Known as the “breakthrough therapy” designation, this new tool is seen by many as yet another positive sign that the FDA is committed to ensuring that innovative drug products are brought to market even more quickly for the millions of patients with serious medical conditions, desperately in need of new therapeutic options.

Delays in treatment and medication non-adherence are the major reasons behind avoidable costs in the healthcare system, according to a new study released this week.