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Doctors say primary care is growing fragmented and turning into more of a commodity, with physician access based on what consumers will pay…the role of primary care has diminished ... and I don't see encouraging signs that it is having a renaissance,.. the result of technology and competition creating more convenient options for care that does not require an in-person doctor visit… changes have helped make basic care more accessible to patients and lowered the cost per visit for many consumers… Patients are opting for drugstore clinics over doctor's offices, and many will soon start wondering why they even need to leave the house when smartphone apps let them chat live with a physician.

Xerox announced…that it would be continuing its partnership with MO HealthNet, Missouri’s Medicaid division, to help combat prescription drug abuse by coordinating patient care between providers, MO HealthNet and pharmacists…Xerox’s prescription clinical authorization tool, pharmacists can investigate whether a patient recently received an opioid prescription and will receive a notice to acquire prior authorization before dispensing it…Missouri does not have a statewide, electronic prescription drug monitoring program, so physicians and pharmacists have limited visibility into other medications a patient has...

Restore Health…it has entered into an agreement to acquire the compounding pharmacy assets of Diplomat Pharmacy… services include the preparation of personalized medications for patients and compounding pharmacists who work with prescribers to customize a medication to meet a patient's specific health needs.

Interview with H. D. Smith’s – Third Party Network manager Katie Geisler to talk about the importance of Medicare Part D enrollment and reimbursement changes in 2016.  (podcast)

China will push patients to seek medical treatment locally in a bid to overhaul a over-burdened healthcare system where wide gaps between urban and rural care often mean people travel hundreds of miles to seek help in cities…. by 2017 all patients with serious illnesses will receive treatment within their own county,… drive could reduce steep costs for its citizens… also a lure for investors and firms betting billions of dollars on China opening up a market set to be worth around $1.3 trillion by 2020.

Egalet Corporation…launched…An immediate-release oral formulation, Oxaydo (oxycodone HCI) is intended to manage acute and chronic moderate to severe pain where the use of an opioid analgesic is appropriate,..it is one of the first immediate-release oxycodone tablets designed to discourage abuse by snorting…designed to discourage abuse with no food effect…

Vladimir Putin says support from Russian business community is needed to help achieve the domestic drug manufacturing goals set out in his Pharma 2020 policy…. Government investment…would help increase local drug manufacture and reduce reliance on imports…private investment from the country's drugmakers is now needed…Putin stressed a commitment to local manufacture would not mean a ban on foreign imports.

Medicare program's shift from volume to value continues with the finalization of the regulation setting inpatient payment rates for fiscal year 2016, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced on July 31…annual update to Medicare's inpatient prospective payment system affects discharges occurring on or after October 1, 2015,..

• Hospital-acquired conditions reduction program…will continue its policy of reducing by 1% the reimbursement rate of hospitals in the bottom performance quartile...
• Value-based purchasing program…incentivizes rather than penalizes hospitals, will include new measures during 2016 that will be used for 2018 payment calculations, including one measure directly related to medication use.
• Add-on payments…authorizes a "new technology add-on payment" for blinatumomab,…for the treatment of a form of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia…maximum add-on payment for the drug during 2016 is $27,017.85 per case,..authorize add-on payments for new technologies or medical services—including drugs—that produce greater clinical benefits than existing technologies..
• Update on "two-midnight rule."…rule was intended to clarify when patients should be treated as outpatients—generally under observation status—or admitted as inpatients…patients who are expected to require care spanning two midnights (i.e., 12:00 a.m. on two consecutive days) should be admitted as inpatients,… although inpatients and patients on observation status receive the same care, observation patients face higher out-of-pocket costs for medications because Medicare pays differently for drugs in inpatient and outpatient settings.

National Community Pharmacists Association…announced that it will collaborate with consumer-direct lab testing innovator, Ulta Lab Tests, to roll out an online community lab testing platform to participating community pharmacy members across the country. The arrangement will offer community pharmacy patients direct access to lab tests and health screenings...customers can order select low-priced lab tests without the need to obtain a prescription from a local physician…then can easily access lab test information…review and track their test results for each biomarker from their personal and secured dashboard at their convenience.

EU needs to better define mercury limits for drugs and dietary supplements say Polish researchers who want pharmaceuticals in Europe to be tested more regularly….because patients are also exposed to environmental sources of the metal those taking pills regularly could build up harmful accumulations of the metal…. Low-quality raw materials, inadequate control during the production and drug counterfeiting can lead to high concentrations of mercury in the final product, which can pose a health threat to consumers, poisoning and even death.