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Nicole Grassano, PTNN, Pharmacy Week in Review, this weekly video program provides our readers with an in-depth review of the latest news, product approvals, FDA rulings and more.

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

Laura Joszt, Managing Editor at The American Journal of Managed Care. Welcome to This Week in Managed Care from the Managed Markets News Network

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

Laura Joszt, Managing Editor at The American Journal of Managed Care. Welcome to This Week in Managed Care from the Managed Markets News Network

Laura Joszt, Managing Editor at The American Journal of Managed Care. Welcome to This Week in Managed Care from the Managed Markets News Network

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

Nicole Grassano, PTNN, Pharmacy Week in Review, this weekly video program provides our readers with an in-depth review of the latest news, product approvals, FDA rulings and more.

Nicole Grassano, PTNN, Pharmacy Week in Review, this weekly video program provides our readers with an in-depth review of the latest news, product approvals, FDA rulings and 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