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..role of the health-system pharmacist in providing transitions-of-care services is expanding rapidly… medication-use practices have improved significantly among health-system pharmacists…survey, which was conducted by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, also showed progress in the use of medication safety technologies such as smart infusion pumps, barcode-assisted medication administration, electronic health records, and computerized order-entry systems.

Because of the consolidation among generics companies over the last several years, the companies are running out of acquisition targets and as a result, specialty pharma firms are now in the M&A spotlight as acquisitive drugmakers search for new ways to fuel growth,.. 'We think some of the most attractive areas are in the niches. Areas like controlled release, topical or injectable generics.' Potential targets include Impax Laboratories, Akorn Pharmaceuticals and Sagent Pharmaceuticals Inc...

...new federal tool aimed at helping patients determine the best hospital for their care is raising questions over whether it provides an accurate assessment of quality.. CMS is developing a hospital quality star-rating system for the Hospital Compare website… We are not confident that the measures currently available…to create a single, methodologically sound rating of all aspects of hospital quality,".. should incorporate risk adjustment for socio-economic factors so results reflect differences in treatment across hospitals.

..federal appeals court…affirmed the Federal Trade Commission's power to regulate cybersecurity—a decision that follows a number of massive healthcare data breaches over the past year… FTC alleges that Wyndham engaged in unfair cybersecurity practices that exposed consumers' personal data to unauthorized access and theft…FTC doesn't now get involved in many healthcare breach cases,..But it could.

Chris Nowakoski’s wife died..during what should have been a routine procedure...Danny Long’s wife..suffered catastrophic neurological injury during a surgery to relieve numbness in her extremities..families still don’t know the full story of what happened to their loved ones because of a lack of documentation and an inability to pursue a costly lawsuit...an estimated 400,000 a year people…die in the United States of preventable medical errors,..the families say they could have known much more if cameras had been installed in the operating rooms, recording the actions and movements of the doctors and staffers involved.

..more and more, health care providers are teaming up with drugstores to provide care via in-store health clinics…trend based around convenience..shifts to focus more ..on the consumer, adapting means providing more services,..same-day access to a doctor, allowing people to interact with the health care system easily, and providing transparency...about the costs of procedures and quality of care.

Human Genome Project has unlocked the complex mysteries of the human genome and unleashed a new era in personalized medicine and pharmaceutical research and development…pharmacy retailers must get out in front of that gene-based drug revolution or risk being left behind… potential health benefits of PGx (pharmacogenomics) are huge,.. So, too, is the field’s growth potential as an industry.

Illinois man (Ram Kamath) pleaded not guilty..to conspiring with an online Canadian pharmacy to smuggle mislabeled, unapproved...counterfeit prescription drugs into the U.S...Federal prosecutors accuse Canadadrugs.com,..and its affiliated companies..selling $78 million in prescription drugs,..mislabeled by having text in a foreign language or missing the required "Rx only" symbol.

What qualifies a hospital IT department as best? So much more than money…. employee survey is officially closed and that means 65 IT shops – out of the nearly 200 initially nominated – have qualified and are in contention to be among our winners…What qualifies a hospital IT department as best?..career satisfaction, culture, immediate work unit, management and leadership, training, benefits, employee recognition and, well, the perks.

…federal judge has ruled Takeda's patent on Velcade (bortezomib) invalid…Velcade's patent was challenged by Actavis, Sandoz, and Accord Healthcare…Takeda expected to have patent protection until 2022, but based on the latest court decision, generics could hit the market by 2017…Velcade,..is a big seller for Takeda, bringing in almost $2.9 billion in revenues in 2014.