Author: Peter

Affordable Care Act continues to drive changes in...providers' strategies for treating and managing chronic conditions....shifts to value-based payments...focus on preventive care and early detection for those chronic conditions... providers now...address sociodemographic factors such as food and housing access, tobacco use and substance abuse, and transportation access to manage population health..

..the biotech sector is volatile, with the fortunes of a stock rising and falling on the latest test and drug trials results. Some have done particularly poorly. losing nearly all their value in the first half of the year. Here are the ten worst.

1. Celladon Corp. (CLDN)
2. Avalanche Biotechnologies (AAVL)
3. Aerie Pharmaceuticals Inc. (AERI)
4. AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ACRX)
5. Pernix Therapeutics Holdings (PTX)
6. Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (INFI)
7. Versartis (VSAR)
8. Regulus Therapeutics Inc. (RGLS)
9. XenoPort, Inc. (XNPT)
10. Achillion Pharmaceuticals (ACHN)

A Swiss organization that helps terminally ill people take their own lives and defends their right to refuse medical treatment ...local authorities had allowed it to open another room for assisted suicides.

health organizations "make rookie mistakes" in their technology implementations,...these rollouts leave hospitals vulnerable to serious patient safety risks… unrealistic timelines… rely too much on vendors..

Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong is being honored by D.A.R.E America and the Drug Enforcement Agency as the 2015 DEA/D.A.R.E Law Enforcement Executive of the Year. The award is given to a law enforcement officer who is committed to drug prevention and enforcement.

AstraZeneca LP has agreed to pay the United States and participating states a total of $46.5 million,..to resolve allegations that it knowingly underpaid rebates owed under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program

Imposing (electronic health records) on the medical community and forcing them to adopt and use this technology was destined to fail…. meaningful use considers electronic health records as the only type of IT solution and ignores the fact that there are many other IT services that can help medical providers much more.

..biotech sector has been one of the best performing sectors this year. While the Nasdaq Composite rose 5.3% for the first six months of the year, the Nasdaq Biotech Index rose a whopping 21.6% as of June 30. In comparison the S&P 500 Index barely eked out a positive return for the first two quarters

1. Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc. (SGYP)
2. Retrophin, Inc. (RTRX)
3. Horizon Pharma plc (HZNP)
4. Exelixis Inc. (EXEL)
5. Prothena Corporation plc (PRTA)
6. Anacor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ANAC)
7. ImmunoGen, Inc. (IMGN)
8. Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (HALO)
9. Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical (RARE)
10. Kythera Biopharmaceuticals (KYTH)

Advocates for better end-of-life care expect Medicare to soon announce that it will start paying physicians for having advanced-care planning conversations with patients...The new policy could be part of an annual Medicare physician payment rule, which could be released any day.

nursing homes have traditionally been one of the weakest links when it comes to health information exchange and care coordination,… new project to help improve those facilities' electronic communication…With.. a $14.8 million CMS grant to reduce avoidable re-hospitalizations among nursing home residents with hospitals.