Author: Peter

UNLV will launch a program this fall that allows students to earn both a medical doctor and master of business administration degree in five years...The university will join about half of the nation’s MD-granting medical schools — including University of Nevada, Reno — that already offer a similar dual degree program...For leadership roles in medicine — particularly, in hospital leadership — a master of business administration (MBA) or equivalent degree is often recommended or required...READ MORE

They’re not just bottles. They’re mirrors that reflect Nevada during a different time, prisms that break up the sunlight of modern-day Nevada into the earthier colors of the state’s mining tradition...But, yeah, some of them look pretty cool, too... READ MORE

The convenience of internet shopping attracts many young buyers to turn to social media and internet platforms, not only to buy ordinary goods but also medications...What some fail to recognize – especially young adults – is that is that most social media platforms are designed to keep users engaged by pushing content they believe the individual wants based on their activity on the platform..after multiple clicks or searches, the line between what a user was searching for and what content the algorithm is pushing can quickly become blurred...social media algorithms have become so efficient at suggesting content to users, even passive ones, that they have created a perfect pathway for digital drug dealers to connect to potential victims in a matter of a few clicks...READ MORE

Four years after passing the state’s first drug transparency law, lawmakers may finally put dollars behind the effort as they continue to build upon the original legislation this session...Members of the Senate Finance Committee this week considered a $780,000 fiscal note from the Department of Health and Human Services on the latest drug transparency bill, SB380, which would allow state health officials to transfer the existing drug transparency database to the state’s Enterprise Information Technology Services Division, where it would live and be maintained moving forward. It also would allow the state to hire a pharmacist to manage the drug transparency program and a management analyst to assist with the program’s facilitation...READ MORE

In reality, nearly half (44%) of hospital pharmacists experienced a diversion event within the past 12 months, which is up from 37% in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this “hidden epidemic,” a multi-faceted challenge which poses serious risks to patients, clinicians and healthcare systems...Here are 5 questions frequently asked by health systems seeking to accelerate and improve their efforts to detect and mitigate drug diversion incidents...READ MORE

1. What are the biggest challenges in identifying drug diversion?
2. How have responsibilities for addressing and resolving drug diversion issues evolved?
3. What offers the biggest opportunity to improve diversion identification?
4. When selecting automated systems and software, which capabilities are most critical?
5. How do you justify the cost of technology in a difficult economic environment?

Eli Lilly is asking a federal court to stop the federal government from imposing any penalties over its decision to restrict sales of 340B-discounted products to contract pharmacies...The request for a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order...comes less than a week after the Health Resources and Services Administration wrote to Lilly and five other drug companies over the contract pharmacy restrictions...The injunction and order show that drug companies appear likely to fight HRSA’s order to immediately offer 340B-discounted drugs to contract pharmacies, which are third-party entities that dispense drugs on behalf of the 340B covered entities...READ MORE

The pace of innovation, the rise of consumerism, an aging population, and the movement toward price transparency means healthcare companies must become more agile and insightful than ever. Six trends have emerged as the top issues affecting healthcare businesses today...READ MORE

1. LEVERAGING BIG DATA
2. SEEING DISRUPTION AS THE NORM
3. EXPANDING THE ROLE OF PHARMACISTS
4. FOCUSING ON TELEHEALTH AND DIGITAL CARE MODELS
5. AGING POPULATION PRESSURING RETAIL PHARMACY
6. ENGAGING PATIENTS TO IMPROVE ADHERENCE

The search for novel therapies has long been a trial-and-error process that costs drug companies a vast amount of time and money. Now, with artificial intelligence (AI) set to transform the pharmaceutical industry more than any other emerging technology, a growing number of pharma and biotech groups are harnessing the cutting-edge tech to minimise the hit-and-miss nature of R&D and discover new therapies with previously impossible speed and accuracy...READ MORE

Lawmakers behind the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act...not only requires electronic prior authorization for MA plans, but also requires the Department of Health and Human Services to create a process for faster decisions on items and services that commonly get approved...While the bill only applies to MA plans, lawmakers hope to eventually tackle more types of insurance such as commercial plans...READ MORE

When Gov. Steve Sisolak proposed establishing a Patient Protection Commission to conduct a top-to-bottom review of Nevada’s health care system, he told industry representatives that his goal was compromise — and that those not working toward that goal could lose their seats at the table...Under a bill Sisolak put forward and the Legislature approved in 2019, the commission was established as an industry-heavy body, with a few patient and general public representatives added in, that would come together to address pressing health care issues in the state — in the vein of an industry working group that had successfully compromised on surprise emergency room billing legislation earlier that year...READ MORE