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Dennis Killian, PharmD, PhD, Director of Pharmacy Services, Peninsula Regional Medical Center, Salisbury, MD, discusses techniques to optimize the use of IV robotics in a hospital pharmacy setting. (video)

As a new Idaho law allowing pharmacy technicians to prescribe naloxone takes effect, Albertsons announced that its Boise-area pharmacy technicians are the first in the state who have been trained to do so...The law, signed in February, makes Idaho the first state in the nation to add pharmacy technicians to the ranks of pharmacists, physicians and nurse practitioners in being able to prescribe the opioid overdose reversal drug. Idaho Gov. Brad Little also issued an executive order creating an advisory group in the state to guide healthcare decisions and strategies related to opioid misuse...“Idaho is leading other states in the steps we are taking to expand access to this critical medication and in our efforts to address the opioid crisis,” Little said. “Training pharmacy technicians and all health professionals to prescribe naloxone further reaches our underserved and rural communities. Albertsons has been a key partner in increasing the scope of practice for both pharmacists and technicians to continue improving access to beneficial and lifesaving medications.”...READ MORE

CVS Pharmacy has completed the rollout of time delay safes in all of its 318 CVS Pharmacy locations in Michigan, including pharmacies located in Target stores...The safes are anticipated to help prevent pharmacy robberies and the diversion of controlled substance narcotic medications by keeping them out of the hands of unauthorized individuals, as well as help the company ensure the safety and well-being of its customers and employees...The company expects these time delay safes to help deter pharmacy robberies including those involving opioid medications such as oxycodone and hydrocodone by electronically delaying the time it takes for pharmacy employees to be able to open the safe. CVS Pharmacy first implemented time delay safes in Indianapolis, a city experiencing at the time a high volume of pharmacy robberies, in 2015. The company saw a 70% decline in pharmacy robberies among the Indianapolis stores where the time delay safes had been installed...READ MORE

In a cut-throat, protectionist sort of way, it makes sense that Nevada’s existing medical providers want to handicap new competitors. But that doesn’t mean elected officials should be doing their bidding...Elite Medical Center provides hospital and emergency room services near the Strip. It’s a small facility trying to fill an overlooked niche in the market — tourists. It treats an average of 30 patients a day. It boasts that patients see a doctor within minutes of arrival...Most Las Vegas residents would likely have never heard of it, except its competitors keep attacking the facility. Other hospitals are upset that Elite Medical Center doesn’t accept Medicaid and Medicare as payment methods...But why would hospitals care if a competitor didn’t accept certain payment methods? That would seem like an opportunity to lure those customers...The medical field needs innovation. Nevada won’t get it by stifling providers who dare to do things differently...READ MORE

CVS has a plan to win over millennials and it looks a lot like Amazon Prime: free home delivery of products...CVS announced...its CarePass program will expand nationwide...Pharmacy chains like CVS and Walgreens are fighting to stay relevant as consumers...shop online more and in physical stores less. Their business models rely on people buying toothpaste, vitamins and other convenience items in addition to filling their prescriptions...READ MORE

CGH Medical Center pharmacists say the system’s Med Card gives patients a better way to keep track of their medications – and say using the software has helped increase clinical knowledge...At CGH Medical Center in Sterling, Illinois, preventable readmissions represent a huge financial and clinical uncertainty...

• THE PROBLEM
• PROPOSAL
• MARKETPLACE
• MEETING THE CHALLENGE
• RESULTS

Pharmacists counseled more than 650 patients in the first eight months of the program at the 97-bed facility. They identified medication interventions in nearly half of all discharges. Depending on the intervention made, these changes had a major impact on patient safety and the cost of their medications...“While we haven’t been able to measure it yet, we are looking into how this program will impact our overall readmission rates and penalties, as well as HCAHPS scores,” said Tim Dunphy, director of pharmacy at CGH Medical Center...READ MORE

Diabetes care is providing a gateway for better interaction between pharmacists and patients...people with diabetes visit the retail pharmacy not only to have their prescriptions filled, but also to learn more about blood sugar levels, A1C testing and self-care... Pharmacists also have to face the challenges of keeping costs down, not just for the retailer, but for the patients as well...Manufacturers said many of the latest innovations can help. The product launches help make blood glucose testing easier, more comfortable and more affordable. As a result, patients can be encouraged to improve their self-care, and also reduce certain costs... Greater involvement in the patient’s health care can improve patient results and hopefully, in the process, buy greater loyalty to the pharmacy that they happen to be working with...There are more than a few pharmacy chains that hire pharmacists not to fill prescriptions, but to work on phones, do medication management, and, when they see an issue, they can call the patient or call the healthcare provider...READ MORE

• Needle innovations
• Beyond testing and injecting
• The future

Drugmakers have speculated about delivering temperature-sensitive vaccines and drugs to remote locations using drones. Now, Merck & Co. is testing the method...Merck initiated the idea, and a collection of players coordinated by humanitarian aid organization Direct Relief have now moved to proof-of-concept missions. They developed and flew a drone with a temperature-controlled payload over the waters around the Bahamas..."This successful pilot demonstrates the potential of innovative unmanned aerial vehicles technology to aid in delivery of temperature-dependent medicines and vaccines to people who critically need them," Craig Kennedy, Merck's senior vice president of supply chain, said...Drone maker Volans-i built and operated the all-electric drones, while packaging expert Softbox developed the temperature-controlled payload box. Merck provided supply chain consulting...READ MORE

College of Southern Nevada paramedic students are the first in the state to begin training on portable ultrasound machines that can help diagnose traumatic bleeding long before a patient arrives at an emergency room...Students in uniform practiced with the handheld devices for the first time...The devices, which will help first responders determine how to care for patients and where to send them, can also communicate patient information to emergency room doctors during transport, expediting the arrival process...“If we have a decision to make in the field, one hospital may not have the trauma surgery capabilities that are needed,” said Braiden Green, CSN’S program director of emergency medical services. “This allows us to decrease the amount of times…that a patient is moved, to get the patient to definitive care faster and improve patient outcomes.”...In rural Nevada, an on-the-spot diagnosis could determine whether a helicopter is needed, Green said, one big reason that CSN decided to pursue this technology...READ MORE

...Sanofi has teamed up with Google to work on innovations, aimed at using emerging data technologies to change how medicines and health services will be delivered in future...Sanofi and Google will use data sets to improve their understanding of key diseases and extract patients’ insights and feedback...Combining Sanofi’s biologic innovations and scientific data with Google’s industry-leading capabilities, from cloud computing to state-of-the-art artificial intelligence...READ MORE