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Hometown Health, a locally owned, not-for-profit health insurer, has announced the receipt of URAC (Utilization Review Accreditation Commission) Health Plan full accreditation. The health care industry continues to evolve and Hometown Health is on the forefront of industry innovation. For us, I view this URAC Health Plan Accreditation as just the beginning of a new era of opportunity and growth."

Ralph Neas, president and CEO of the Generic Pharmaceutical Association, issued a statement Monday criticizing the FDA at the organization’s public meeting on the Generic Drug User Free Act. “It is industry opinion that the FDA is falling short of meeting its commitment to GDUFA goals, resulting in decreased access for patients and billions of dollars in lost savings,”....

The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association today released a new ad campaign in New York — "I'm Not Willing to Send My Patients to Just Any Pharmacy" — highlighting a new survey of specialty physicians in New York that finds only two percent think all drugstores have the "expertise and capability" to provide specialty medications to patients.

The new data, expected to be released publicly late Thursday, show that acute care hospitals in the state recorded 821 serious reportable events (SREs) in 2014, a 9 percent increase from 2013 when they reported 753 SREs..... the numbers are "a positive indicator" that hospitals now do a better job at detecting and reporting errors, the newspaper reported.

.....the skill sets that contemporary community pharmacists need to routinely and effectively provide CMM services in today’s health care system include current and comprehensive therapeutic knowledge (the foundation for all other skills), critical thinking, problem solving, decision making, interpersonal communication (verbal and written), teamwork (collaboration with other providers), motivational interviewing, health coaching, and documentation skills.

..... specialty pharmacy may very well represent the future lifeblood of independent pharmacy — especially as health systems and payers become more inclined to direct prescription traffic toward pharmacy operators ready to deliver better outcomes for their patients...... independents face significant hurdles entering the specialty business, and more challenges competing within that space once they're there.

Compliance with the United States Pharmacopeia chapter <800> is on the horizon, and pharmacists everywhere should know what to expect with these standards for handling hazardous drugs in their facilities.

When pharmacists graduate from pharmacy school, their goals are to improve patient outcomes, create world-class customer service, and make lives better. But, over time, those goals morph into not getting fined, sued, or fired.  What happened to professional judgment and common sense?

Stratos Genomics Inc, ... announced today the successful demonstration of nanopore sequencing with their proprietary expandable nucleotides (X-NTP™) utilizing a novel single molecule detection method. ….“It can enable low cost, rapid, more accurate and targeted and whole genome sequencing, dropping the price into a range that is accessible by essentially everyone,”.....

Heather Bonome, PharmD, director of Pharmacy Segment at URAC, discusses how accreditation programs can enhance health care overall. This video was recorded courtesy of Armada Health Care at the 2015 Armada Specialty Pharmacy Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada.