Author: Peter

'Many are becoming disenchanted by the seemingly unrealistic expectations'…Refrain from finalizing Meaningful Use Stage 3, wrote 100 members of Congress in a September 28 letter to...director of the Office of Management and Budget, and HHS Secretary..."We believe that additional time is necessary for the proper evaluation and optimization of implemented technology to insure the technology can ensure better quality care for all patients,"... "We believe that the Stage 3 rule should be paused as it should rely on proven technology – designed outside the limitations of current federal requirements – that can support a shift to outcomes and interoperability rather than measures and objectives,"...

NVSHP would like to welcome all Pharmacists, Pharmacy Technicians, Pharmacy Students and other Health Professionals to the Annual Meeting on Saturday, October 3rd, at the JA Nugget Casino in Sparks Nevada…There will be 4 hours of CE available and an exhibit showcase. Breakfast and lunch will be provided. We look forward to seeing you there!

• PPMI: Advancing Pharmacy Practice (Steve Nelson)
• Nevada Law CE (Nevada State Board of Pharmacy Staff)
• Updates on Biologic Therapy for Plaque Psoriasis (Stephen Lee)
• Naloxone Rescue 101 (Danielle Finn, Kelly Krieger, Heather Mooney)

California pharmacists could soon participate in dispensing lethal medications to terminally ill patients, pending Gov. Brown’s review of the state’s End of Life Option Act…"It will be critical for pharmacists to be highly engaged with patients, their physicians, and caregivers in discussions about end-of-life considerations,"…"As a member of the health care team and expert in medication use, pharmacists may be placed in situations that require their expertise and should be conversant in the medication-related aspects of these choices, regardless of whether they choose to actively participate in end-of-life actions or not."

Many community colleges have chosen to meet the increasing demand for highly trained pharmacy technicians by developing training courses…Technician training programs help students cultivate the knowledge and skills they need to thrive in the changing pharmacy environment, and also prepare them to take the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board exam. Some states even require technicians to complete an accredited course before working in a pharmacy. Information about more schools that have recently opened technician training programs can be found here.

1. Belmont College (St. Clairsville, Ohio)
2. College of the Redwoods (Eureka, California)
3. Illinois Valley Community College (Oglesby, Illinois)
4. Iowa Western Community College (Council Bluffs, Iowa)
5. Tri-County Technical College (Pendleton, South Carolina)

A group of individuals has slapped two D.C. hospitals with a class action lawsuit, alleging that their charges for requesting medical records -- ranging from $1,168 to $2,500 -- violate state and federal regulations...alleged the hospitals collected "illegal and grossly excessive charges" for copies of the patients' medical records, which were collected by a third-party vendor HealthPort,...Counsel for the hospitals,...said that federal law did not apply to third-party requests...hospitals and HealthPort overcharged medical records by a whopping $7 million.

GSK is selling a French R&D site (Les Ulis) as part of a global restructuring move but says it will continue growing its manufacturing presence in the country… GSK is consolidating its R&D network by concentrating its operations into two global centres – Philadelphia in the US and Stevenage in the UK – that will be supported by a number of smaller ‘satellite’ sites.

…abbreviations "TPA" and "t-PA" are causing medication mix-ups between alteplase (Activase) and tenecteplase (TNKase)….This confusion is a significant contributing factor to wrong drug errors between Activase and TNKase, according to the FDA and Institute for Safe Medication Practices… To avoid this, ISMP recommends removing the abbreviations from all standardized order sets, electronic order entry screens, and treatment protocols, and referring to the medications by their brand names, generic names, or both in all verbal and written communication.

National Voices and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry have jointly produced a guide on collaboration for both charities and pharmaceutical companies. The guide highlights the benefits that working together can deliver, alongside some of the issues and risks that all parties need to consider… The aim of the guide is to ensure that such collaborations are more likely to happen, for the benefit of charities, pharmaceutical companies and patients.

Increasing QbD (Quality by Design) needs and a range of technical service centres have driven up the prices of Evonik’s drug delivery excipient portfolio,…Oral dose pharmaceutical excipients and polymers used for depot formulations and bioresorbable implants, are increasing in price…price changes are necessary to "maintain the high level of service and quality" of the excipients, The price hike affects…polymers used to encapsulate and control the release of small molecule APIs, peptides and proteins. Polymers falling under Evonik’s Resomer brand – used in medical implants and devices – will also be affected.

Independent pharmacies will want to consider updating their credit card processing terminals to accept EMV chip cards this fall…Named after their original developers (Europay, MasterCard, and Visa), EMV cards have a small, metallic square on the front of the card that serves as a microprocessor to store data securely, making the cards nearly impossible to counterfeit…starting October 1...the liability for credit card fraud will shift from banks to stores that are not EMV compliant…liability will shift to "whichever party is the least EMV-complaint in certain fraudulent transactions...