News

Engaging pharmacists in healthcare information technology is crucial to increasing overall medication adherence in healthcare, panelists on the “Connected Health, Better Adherence” roundtable at the Pew Conference Center in Washington, DC, told attendees last week.

An interdisciplinary group of pharmacists, pharmacy school and medical school faculty, pharmacy students, nurses, physicians, attorneys, and health advocates have called on Walgreens and Rite Aid to join CVS Caremark and stop the sale of tobacco products in their stores.

Narrow networks keep premiums low, but how narrow is too narrow?

CVS Caremark is recognizing that cigarettes and pharmacies don't mix and will stop selling cigarettes and other tobacco products at its more than 7,600 CVS/pharmacy stores across the United States by October 1, 2014. This move makes CVS/pharmacy the first national pharmacy chain to take this step in support of the health and well-being of its patients and customers.

FDA said it is investigating the risk of stroke, heart attack, and death in men taking FDA-approved testosterone products.

Care management firm also brings with it software capabilities that aggregate clinical and claims data

Estimates show a reduction in expected coverage levels in 2014.

Complex diseases present complex challenges for researchers, clinicians, drug manufacturers, and FDA for a variety of reasons. The impact, however, is felt at the patient level, particularly when there are no FDA-approved treatments. In some cases, such as myalgic encephalomyelitis, commonly known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), the devastating effects of the disease are exacerbated by the huge deficit in the drug application and approval pipeline. This leaves the patient population with little hope.

Researchers recently determined that acute otitis media is associated with an incremental increase in outpatient health care costs of $314 per child per year in the United States, which translates into approximately $2.88 billion in added health care expense annually.

Adding evolocumab (Amgen) to statin therapy may help patients control their low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels when high doses of statins are not sufficient, according to results from a recent phase 3 study.

"Nudging" doctors with signed commitment letter in exam rooms lowered inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions for cold symptoms by nearly 20%, according to a study in JAMA Internal Medicine.

HHS: Exchange plans should respond to consumer wants

Four are easy, but one is not so easy

States expecting the woodwork effect

Four key developments to watch for

Just above Medicaid eligibility, the plans could stabilize coverage for low-income members

Use telemedicine to increase provider reach

Consumers expect more from healthcare

Consider tailored approaches for health management

Q&A with Charles Kennedy, MD

Ohio volunteer enrolls just two people in three months

Choose your goals before crunching numbers

Avoidable costs amount to more than $1 trillion

The medical community is using checklists to voluntarily cut costs

Coverage gaps lead to 40% higher costs

PBMs are moving products to non-covered status

Two oncologists are calling on fellow oncologists and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) to support a single-payer healthcare system, according to an article published in the January issue of the Journal of Oncology Practice.

For patients in the early stages of multiple sclerosis (MS), low levels of vitamin D were found to strongly predict disease severity and hasten its progression, according to a study online January 20, 2014 in JAMA Neurology.