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Epic is working on a clinical decision tool aimed at helping healthcare providers reduce the risk of falls in unsteady patients…Kaiser Permanente will roll out the tool at its facilities across the country and will also make its evidence-based falls prevention program widely available to other health systems and health plans.

Pharmacy and Medically Underserved Areas Enhancement Act, H.R. 592/S. 314, would give state-licensed pharmacists in underserved communities provider status, enabling them to provide...services to Medicare patients...bill would amend Medicare Part B rules to allow pharmacists to receive payment for their care services, thereby increasing patients’ access to essential services,...

....doctors treat his cancer, the burden of treating his pain has fallen on his family...as the Russian economy has faltered, pain management for people with severe illnesses,...has become all but unaffordable...

Western New England University College of Pharmacy...recently announced that the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education has granted full accreditation status..

Sovaldi, last year's wonder drug, has been pushed aside by...Harvoni,...sticker price...is $1,350 a pill...fast-paced changes in hepatitis C treatment are being watched closely amid fears that breakthrough drugs could reignite the rise..health care costs. Other medications that could turn into cost drivers include a new treatment for melanoma and a cholesterol-lowering drug awaiting approval.

..how you can get more involved in supporting the Pharmacy and Medically Underserved Areas Enhancement Act , the provider status legislation for pharmacists. Here are a few tips on how you can help encourage your Members of Congress to support H.R. 592/S. 314.

• When Congress is IN session
•  E-mail
•  Call
•  Visit
•  Gossip
• When Congress is OUT of session
•  Plan a visit
•  Host a Member at your pharmacy (or your school!).
•  Attend a Town Hall

insurance regulators and state attorneys general are lining up to scrutinize Aetna Inc's proposed $33 billion takeover of rival Humana Inc for potential harm to consumers,...already expected to be a tough and lengthy review by federal antitrust authorities.

The total number of prescriptions written for Gilead Sciences hepatitis C drugs Sovaldi and Harvoni…peaked in March and are now in a consistent downtrend,…This isn't likely to be a problem for Gilead's second-quarter results due later this month, but unless hepatitis C prescriptions pick up (Harvoni, especially), consensus estimates for the rest of 2015 and 2016 might be at risk.

Albany College of Pharmacy...announced...opening of a student operated pharmacy...In addition to dispensing medications, the pharmacy will serve as a "collaboratory" where the College will partner with local health care providers to offer an expanded range of clinical services.

Providers must work with patients to stop treatments that don't actually help and, in some cases, cause more harm..

• Empower patient decision-making.
• Shift to value-based pay practices.
• Determine when new approaches are really better.
• Reform medical malpractice.