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CVS Health…announced that it is opening Hearing Centers in seven CVS/pharmacy stores in the Dallas and Cleveland markets and will be providing optical services at CVS/pharmacy in five store locations around the Baltimore/Washington, D.C. market…"Hearing and optical services are a great fit with the existing health offerings in our stores, including industry-leading pharmacy products and services, our MinuteClinic walk-in medical clinics and a comprehensive smoking cessation program,"… "By expanding our retail health offerings…we are providing customers a convenient, single destination on their path to better health."

Three scientists…whose discoveries led to the development of potent new drugs against parasitic diseases…won the Nobel Prize for Medicine…Irish-born William Campbell and Japan's Satoshi Omura won half of the prize for discovering avermectin,…used to treat..river blindness and lymphatic filariasis...China's Tu Youyou was awarded the other half of the prize for discovering artemisinin, a drug that has slashed malaria deaths…She is China's first Nobel laureate in medicine.

75th International Pharmaceutical Federation World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences opened…in Düsseldorf,..the opening ceremony, FIP President Carmen Peña,…called on pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists around the world to ensure that the profession of pharmacy remains relevant and able to respond effectively to the current and future needs of the world’s communities… A way forward is her "Two times two" plan, which she described at the ceremony. It means taking two actions at two levels — one action on professional development and another to promote and defend the profession's interests, each taken at individual and collective levels.

Summer was a busy season for FDA drug warnings...Now that fall is in full gear, pharmacists should get familiarized with the drug safety communications sent out this past summer...Here are the FDA’s medication safety alerts since June, starting with the most recent:

1. Ceftazidime and avibactam (Avycaz) - drug strength
2. Tramadol (Ultram, Ultram ER, Conzip) – pediatric use
3. Clozapine (Clozaril) – neutropenia management , REMS Program
4. Ingenol mebutate (Picato) - adverse reactions
5. Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors - joint pain warning
6. Fingolimod (Gilenya) - progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy
7. Gadolinium-based contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging - brain deposits
8. Vortioxetine (Brintellix) and ticagrelor (Brilinta) – name confusion
9. Codeine-containing cough-and-cold medications – pediatric use, respiratory conditions
10. Methylphenidate transdermal system (Daytrana patch) - permanent skin discoloration

ICD-10 go live date came and went...with many organizations reporting small, if any, hiccups. One of those...was Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center…with CIO John Halamka,.. reporting on his team's first few days…other than a few small refinements, the impact has been unnoticeable…financial system is able to process both ICD-9 and ICD-10 to support patients who were admitted on 9/30 and discharged on 10/1…scorecard listed only five minor issues...which our local teams…were able to…quickly close…thanks to all involved in this extremely smooth go live…Our next steps will be monitoring the coding of the initial inpatient cases and payer submissions along with watching reimbursements over the next 60 days.

Canadians, who have access to one of the most advanced health care systems in the world, spend more than $200 billion on health care, $34 billion of which is on pharmaceuticals…medical services are socialized, government-supported drug benefits are limited to children, the elderly and the poor…drug funding is more akin to that in the United States…Building on the growing need for practical, implementable solutions, the…pharmacy industry…is collaborating to bring forward...initiatives to address the sustainability gap..there are several...currently under way, perhaps the best known is "The Healthcare Imperative" ("9000 Points of Care"). This effort targets key health care system cost drivers…

Sixteen pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists from nine countries were honoured at the opening ceremony of the 75th World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences…Their contribution to pharmacy was recognised through a number of awards from the International Pharmaceutical Federation…

Two of these were the federation’s highest awards, recognising excellence in the fields of pharmacy practice and pharmaceutical sciences, namely:

• Dr Thomas Lönngren - André Bédat Award
• Professor Hans Junginger - Høst Madsen Medal

Other awards presented today were:

• Professor Theo D.K. Raynor - Lifetime Achievement in Pharmacy Practice Award
• Dr Régis Vaillancourt - Distinguished Practice Award
• Professor Henri R. Manasse - Joseph A. Oddis Award for Exceptional Service to FIP

FIP Fellowships

• Professor Claire Anderson
• Mrs Jane Dawson
• Dr Jennifer Dressman
• Dr Linda Hakes
• Mr Dominique Jordan
• Professor Jennifer Marriott
• Dr Rebekah Moles
• Professor Hiroshi Suzuki
• Dr Agathe Wehrli
• Professor Albert I. Wertheimer
• Mr Nobuo Yamamoto

Government Accountability Office details five barriers to interoperability, while at the same time raising criticism by a former ONC official, who calls the GAO report "incomplete."..GAO delved into interoperability at the request of Congressional leaders who asked the watchdog to report on the status of efforts by entities other than the federal government to develop infrastructure that could lead to nationwide interoperability of health information…most of these initiatives remain works in progress…GAO identified five stubborn barriers to interoperability..

1. Insufficiencies in health data standards
2. Variation in state privacy rules
3. Difficulty in accurately matching all the right records to the right patient
4. The costs involved in achieving the goals
5. The need for governance and trust among entities to facilitate sharing health information

To celebrate American Pharmacist Month, Rite Aid Corp. has launched its annual "Vote for Your Favorite Pharmacy Team Member Contest."…which runs to Oct. 31, gives customers a chance to win $2,500 in Rite Aid gift cards by nominating a favorite member of their Rite Aid pharmacy team...Now in its 12th year, the contest is designed to recognize Rite Aid pharmacy associates — including pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, pharmacy managers, pharmacy cashiers and Wellness Ambassadors

Despite our gleaming new hospital at the Glen offering state-of-the-art facilities, when Université de Montréal researcher Damien Contandriopoulos gives the closing address on the future of hospitals for the Hospital Conference at McGill University…he will paint a bleak portrait of health care in Quebec….new Montreal hospitals, even those which haven’t opened yet, would be fantastic answers to the problems of the health care system of 10 years ago,"… "There is a disconnect between what people expect and what hospitals have to offer,"…"People waiting in a corridor seems normal in a hospital — but it’s not normal." Quebec is lagging behind the rest of Canada in terms of the performance of its health care system.