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The state of the overall economy along with industry-specific challenges, such as uncertain reimbursement fees, presents a challenge to even the most experienced healthcare executive who must set a firm budget and stabilize costs.

Since the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002, corporate executives have spent substantial time and money addressing potential security risks and regulatory compliance requirements.

One of the most important therapeutic classes according is going to be cancer and transplant. "In fact, its contribution to spending increases over the next three years is definitely underestimated here since our projections are based on pharmacy claims data and a large portion of the spending for cancer treatments is paid through the medical benefit," says Lon Castle, MD, senior director, department of medical and analytical affairs at Medco.

When wildfires tore through San Diego last year, approximately 1 million people were displaced. At San Diego-based American Specialty Health, the management team knew that, beyond personal challenges, there was the potential impact of a long-term shut down on more than 12 million insured.

For managed care executives, the first step in lowering costs for specialty drugs is to look at the total specialty spend by combining information from the pharmacy and medical benefits, one expert says.

Sometimes in our technology-driven environment, we get into a fixed routine of the current standard of care for our patients. What would we see or hear if we saw our practice or facility through the eyes and ears of our patients?

In chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), airways in the lung are partially obstructed. It's often a mixture of two diseases, chronic bronchitis and emphysema. The condition is marked by a progressive decline in lung function.

When Newt Gingrich recently suggested that in the future, consumer healthcare is going to look more like Travelocity and that consumers are going to go where the best care is and shop for the best price for drugs and services, Jonathan Edelheit, president of the Medical Tourism Assn., couldn't have agreed more.

The healthcare industry has yet to use evidence-based medicine (EBM) to its fullest potential, despite studies suggesting the need for it. Wide variation in medical practice and resulting clinical outcomes is indicative of the not-yet completed journey toward implementing evidence-based medicine.

Medicare Advantage plans escaped threatened payment cuts last year, but the issue is at the top of the health policy legislative agenda for the coming months. Legislation enacted in late December postponed a scheduled reduction in Medicare payments to physicians-but only for six months. Congress paid for that short delay plus an extension of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) without cutting MA rates or raising taxes.

Commonwealth Fund State Performance Ranking (2007): 22

Washington, D.C.-Pressure to uncover potential adverse events before a new drug reaches patients seems to be taking a toll on drug development and marketing. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved only 19 innovative new drugs in 2007, according to preliminary analyses. That's way down from the peak of 53 new drugs in 1996, but in line with a steady decline in new drug approvals since 2002.

National reports-The movement toward the patient-centered medical-home model has gained rapid momentum over the past year, marked by several watershed events.

HIPAA prohibits group plans from charging higher premiums to individuals due to health status, medical history, genetic information, claims experience, receipt of care or evidence of disability. The Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration recently issued guidelines that closed off a loophole that might have allowed employers to charge less healthy workers higher deductibles.

FDA approved sapropterin on December 13, 2007, to reduce blood Phe levels in patients with hyperphenylalaninemia (HPA) due ro BH4-responsive phenylketonuria (PKU).

Until 2005, irbesartan was the only ARB available on the Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system's national formulary. In 2005, irbesartan was removed from the formulary and was replaced with valsartan and losartan. For those patients who were to continue ARB therapy via a switch to either losartan or valsartan, dosing guidelines were created by the Veterans Integrated System Network 7 to facilitate the change. These guidelines suggested that patients taking irbesartan 150 mg once daily be treated with either valsartan 80 mg or losartan 50 mg once daily and that patients taking irbesartan 300 mg once daily be treated with either valsartan 160 mg or losartan 100 mg once daily. To determine if the dosing guidelines resulted in equal antihypertensive effectiveness, we carried out a retrospective chart review, examining the cases of 86 patients at the William Jennings Bryan Dorn VA Medical Center in Columbia, South Carolina, who had switched from irbesartan to either losartan or valsartan.

Drugs in development as of January 2008 for the treatment of actinic keratosis, melanoma, andpsoriasis

Bar coding drugs has been demonstrated to improve patient safety by reducing medication errors.

Two tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) inhibitors, infliximab and adalimumab, are approved by FDA for the treatment of moderate-to-severe Crohn's disease (CD) in patients who have an inadequate response to conventional therapies. Certolizumab is a pegylated TNF-alpha inhibitor being investigated for the treatment of moderate-to-severe CD.

The use of biologic treatment for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with an increased risk of nonmelanotic skin cancer and melanoma, according to a large observational study published that included 13,001 patients.

FDA-related information through January 2008 on Extended-release ropinirole (Requip XL); Indiplon; Xience V Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System; tetrabenazine; vernakalant (Kynapid); gepirone extended-release; lovastatin (Mevacor); bevacizumab (Avastin); tedisamil; rabies monoclonal antibody cocktail; AVI-4658; alfimeprase; Prochymal; aripiprazole (Abilify); bendamustine (Treanda); ATIR; CDX-110; and ISIS 333611

FDA approved sapropterin on December 13, 2007, to reduce blood Phe levels in patients with hyperphenylalaninemia (HPA) due ro BH4-responsive phenylketonuria (PKU).

Healthcare reform is on the lips of every 2008 Presidential hopeful. Take a look beyond the lip service and examine the platforms of Democratic and Republican front-runners.

The real potential for the application of incentives, rewards and recognition programs is in the broader context of overall employee health, as well as benefit programs and retirement planning initiatives driven by consumer directed healthcare strategies.

The real potential for the application of incentives, rewards and recognition programs is in the broader context of overall employee health, as well as benefit programs and retirement planning initiatives driven by consumer directed healthcare strategies.

Healthcare will never be an industry where one size fits all, but through reducing adminstrative complexity, resources can be redirected and put to better use.

Technologies and wireless systems has vastly improved hospital communication, putting critical information in the hands of those caring for patients immediately.

PBM services add a different dimension to traditional healthcare, promoting increased industry innovation and broader adoption of value-based drug benefit designs.