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At this time of year, “best of” lists abound: the top-selling books; the highest-impact papers; the 10 biotech stocks that most exceeded expectations...This is not one of those lists...Here at STAT, we’ve compiled a list of Twitter feeds to follow for insights into the worlds of health, medicine, and science. These aren’t necessarily the biggest names in social media. Or even the most important voices. They are simply people whose tweets we value. (We’ve put all these names into a Twitter list you can follow. Please note, you must be logged into Twitter to see this list.)...It’s just that Twitter is an amazing smorgasbord. Here are some accounts to sample:

1. The BS detector: @CaulfieldTim
2. The Twitter scientist: @kejames
3. The science sentinel: @greg_folkers
4. The end-of-life guru: @DianeEMeier
5. The health care insider: @kevinmd
6. The connected patient: @epatientdave
7. The DeathXpert: @drlindseyfitz
8. The pharma watchdogs: @RxPricing 
9. The techie: @halletecco
10. The Ignobel Mind: @MarcAbrahams
11. The med school dean: @jflier
12. The digital health evangelist: @EricTopol
13. The patient’s friend: @vmontori
14. The financier: @John_LaMattina
15. The critical eye: @hmkyale
16. The brain guy: @sapinker
17. The hip-hop evolutionist: @DNLee5
18. The zombie expert: @aetiology

Banner Churchill Community Hospital is expanding the imaging capabilities available within the community with the installation of a Hologic 3D Mammography Unit and Dexascan this month. These units will improve patient care and increase efficiency, while offering the convenience of having the scans done close to home...The nonprofit hospital has also upgraded its fluoroscopy machine, bringing state-of-the-art imaging technology for gastrointestinal, cancer and reproductive screenings...“We are pleased to be able to offer the latest technology here at Banner Churchill so patients in our community and the surrounding areas can access the best care without leaving home,” said Dee Towne, senior manager of Medical Imaging.

Skyrocketing drug costs became the stuff of congressional hearings and presidential campaign speeches in 2015...The federal government announced this month that prescription drug spending hit $297.7 billion last year -- up more than 12 percent...A new generation of specialized drugs and price hikes on existing medications helped to drive that spike...If there's a bright spot amid the troubling rise in the cost of prescription drugs, perhaps it is this: Many of the most widely used generic drugs actually were cheaper at the end of 2015 than when the year began, according to an analysis released...by...GoodRx...The reality is that about 85 percent of drugs taken in this country are generic...Those are surprisingly inexpensive and getting less expensive, in many cases...For [many] generic drugs, there's a lot of competition...while the retail price of some drugs decreased by 30 percent or more, some generic drug products had...extraordinary, price increases...the rate of generic price declines has been slowing for the past decade, indicating that the era of consistent generic drug price decreases may be coming to an end...it's a complicated...exercise to determine what any person, company or insurer pays for a particular drug...The system is opaque...Between changing insurance premiums, greater overall health-care costs, the arrival of new high-priced therapies and the ongoing possibility of price spikes in once-cheap drugs, many patients can count on continuing worries about the impact on their pocketbooks.

Pharmacists ranked No. 2 in Gallup's 2015 Honesty and Ethics of Professions Ratings, falling behind No. 1 ranked nurses and ahead of No. 3 ranked medical doctors...This annual Gallup survey presents another data point in the strong and growing case for pharmacy patient care...those who have more first-hand experience with pharmacist-provided services feel even more strongly about their value. These positive attitudes are translating into ever-stronger bipartisan support for pro-patient and pro-pharmacy initiatives in the U.S. Congress, as well as an expansion of the pharmacists’ scope of practice in the states.

‘Pharmacy of the future’ redefines the relationship between the patient and pharmacist...Northeast Ohio Medical University and Ritzman Pharmacy are bridging the chasm between higher education and pharmacy practice, to create a “pharmacy of the future.”...Set in a healthcare ecosystem on the NEOMED campus, next to a medical fitness facility and primary care physician office, the pharmacy will use technology to engage the tech savvy— individuals wearing Fitbits or smartwatches, using social media or apps to track their fitness — and the use of these digital tools will open up time for pharmacists to cultivate relationships and engage with patients who are fond of vintage-inspired, face-to-face care...This...will allow the pharmacy to help with medication adherence or medication management, whether it’s on campus or in someone’s home...the heart of this innovative practice model rests small-town, vintage care. If you look back 30 or 40 years...Everyone knew their pharmacist and they were integral to patients’ care...I think we lost our way in pharmacy for awhile and became solely focused on the production of the prescription...What we’re trying to do is bring that philosophy back into the present...we call that pioneering vintage care...This innovative pharmacy will be using novel technologies to alleviate administrative burdens behind the counter, bringing the pharmacist back in front of the community.

We’re unwrapping the future. Here’s our list of 11 developments in the next 12 months that will change the course of American health care for many years to come.

• On or off track? 2016 could be the year that value-based payment arrives–or maybe not
• Sagging sign-ups: Slowing enrollment may mean big trouble for the ACA
• Sticker shock waves: Players to respond to drug priciness
• Slimming too fast: New rules coming for narrowing networks
• Picking up the tab: Out-of-network bills will be a hot issue
• The 2016 election season: Democrats to play D while GOP devises a game plan
• The hunger gains: Appetite for quality to grow
• Cyberthievery: Will health care companies respond in 2016?
• Too much of a good thing: Overdiagnosis to get its due
• Doing the MACRA-ena: Will the celebrations continue in 2016?
• Growing testiness: Disagreements between insurers, labs about new molecular tests

Biosimilars have made a splash in Europe, Australia and India, and now they're gaining steam stateside. That's sure to continue, with Citigroup analysts estimating innovative biologics will lose $110 billion in sales to copycats by 2025. And with one biosim already on the U.S. market, and more poised for a 2016 liftoff, next year will give drugmakers and payers a taste of the biosim contest to come...One question for next year is pricing. For years, experts have suggested that biosimilars would sell for a modest discount to the original med, but in Europe, Remicade knockoffs have been undercutting Merck & Co.'s branded version by 40% or more, and gaining big market share in the process...Another question: How quickly will doctors flock to biosimilars once they launch? Some research suggests that initially, it won't be fast at all. U.S. doctors don't know much about biosimilars...Plus, doctors may be reluctant to prescribe without flawless data on biosims….

Doctors are more likely to give smokers antibiotics for an infection, a bad habit that may endanger public health by promoting antibiotic resistance...Smokers were 20 percent to 30 percent more likely than non-smokers to get an antibiotic prescription when they were diagnosed with infections...If smokers are being prescribed antibiotics...if not indicated, it’s going to contribute to that antibiotic resistance...and bacteria are going to become more and more resistant...You would think that the number of bacterial infections where antibiotics are clinically indicated should be evenly distributed among smokers and non-smokers...The study can't say why smokers are more likely to get antibiotics for infections...it may be due to an inaccurate belief among doctors that people who smoke are more susceptible to infections.

Regulators have logged dozens, even hundreds, of complaints against some health providers for violating federal patient privacy law. Warnings are doled out privately, but sanctions are imposed only rarely. Companies say they take privacy seriously...CVS is among hundreds of health providers nationwide that repeatedly violated the federal patient privacy law known as HIPAA between 2011 and 2014...Other well-known repeat offenders include the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Walgreens, Kaiser Permanente and Walmart...I don’t like the idea of repeat offenders not being called to task for that behavior and I would like to see us doing more in this regard...The number of health information privacy complaints submitted to the Office for Civil Rights within the Department of Health and Human Services has increased dramatically in recent years, in part because of the introduction of an online complaint portal...Using data provided by OCR under the Freedom of Information Act, ProPublica is launching a new tool, HIPAA Helper, which allows users to look up reports of privacy violations by provider for the first time. OCR’s material often referred to the same entities by multiple names. CVS was listed as “CVS,” “Pharmacy, CVS,” “Caremark, CVS,” “CVS Caremark”...We have standardized organizations’ names to make searching easier.

Expanding interest in traditional Chinese medicine in the United States is fostering a potentially lucrative new niche market for farmers who plant the varieties of herbs, flowers and trees sought by practitioners...While almost all practitioners still rely on imports from China, dwindling wild stands there, as well as quality and safety concerns, could drive up demand for herbs grown in the U.S. Several states have set up "growing groups" to help farmers establish trial stands of the most popular plants....Traditional Chinese medicine is gaining mainstream acceptance in the U.S. There are 30,000 licensed practitioners across the country - 46 states issue licenses, often requiring a master's degree and continuing education credits. In 2014, the Cleveland Clinic opened one of the first hospital-based Chinese herbal therapy clinics in the country...If growers in the U.S. can produce a highest-quality product that is identical to species from China, without contamination from heavy metals or pesticides, I think it's a great opportunity for farmers...