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PharmTalk is a special production from the University of Arizona, College of Pharmacy that features Keith and Kevin Boesen.

They are often in the basement, and patients seldom visit. But the pharmacy department in a big hospital is a vital unit for making sure the right medicines get to the patients on time and safely.

CVS opened its first local Minute Clinic in 2007 in its pharmacy on the Strip near the Monte Carlo. To date, it has 11 Minute Clinics throughout Nevada, eight in Las Vegas and three in the Reno/Sparks area. All clinics are open seven days a week with weekend and early evening hours available...Walgreens has 13 clinics in the Las Vegas area, none in Northern Nevada. And like CVS, its clinics are open seven days a week with similar hours of operation. From 50 clinics in 2007, the pharmacy has grown that number to 400 nationally.

Everyone is a potential victim of the dangerous condition known as sepsis, which kills more than 258,000 Americans each year…. Early recognition and immediate treatment can reduce the morbidity and mortality of sepsis. In other words, healthcare professionals need to be fast and loud to beat sepsis.

The following are 4 specific things formulary managers can do in the battle against sepsis:

1. Increase consumer and patient awareness
2. Act fast: Treat sepsis as a medical emergency
3. Know and screen for risk factors
4. Participate in continuing education about sepsis

Wal-Mart Stores surprised everyone by highlighting reduced profits from its pharmacy business. In corporate-speak, these were called "headwinds from pharmacy reimbursements" on its quarterly and annual earnings. Investors took note, especially since Walmart usually discloses nothing about its pharmacy business. Walmart didn’t provide many details about what caused the margin reduction, but I believe two factors played a key role:

1. lower margins from newly insured consumers (compared with cash-pay consumers)
2. Walmart’s aggressive participation in preferred networks

'Throwing out the prescription pad' is key to preventing fraud and abuse..With e-prescribing of controlled substances now legal nationwide, providers and pharmacies are empowered with a new technological tool in the fight against prescription painkillers… there's some progress yet to be made on this front. NLR(National Law Review) points to statistics that show that while… one-third of pharmacies were equipped to handle eRx of controlled substances as of the end of 2013, just 1 percent of prescribers were able to do so.

Sepsis Alliance and… Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will mark Sepsis Awareness Month in September by collaborating on a variety of efforts and new resources. Throughout the month of September, CDC will release a new series of fact sheets, host a twitter chat to engage the public in a conversation about sepsis, and host a blog series on its Safe Healthcare Blog to share first-hand experiences of doctors, first responders, patients, and family members coping with the devastating effects of sepsis.

Do pharmacists feel that discipline by the state board of pharmacy is effective in deterring future errors? Should the pharmacist’s name be published in the state board of pharmacy newsletter for all the pharmacists in the state to see? Readers were vocal on this subject and plenty more.

• Official actions
• The public
• Script volume
• Working conditions
• E-stuff
• Next-gen pharms
• The right stuff

Ashley Talamo, Publisher: Pharmacy Times...(PTNN) This weekly video program highlights the latest in pharmacy news, product news, and more. (video)

• Samsung LabGeo PT10 - private patient kiosks...with a new point-of-care lab technology
• Higi Kiosks - cloud-based interactive..for health-and-wellness tracking, data sharing..patient education
• RxASP 1000 - prescription packaging system… accommodate up to 1,000 RFID canisters
• CoBot - new robotic technology…PharmASSIST CoBot…ease workflow and perform "mindless repetitive tasks"
• Surescripts optimizes tech, expands applications - new capabilities is an electronic prior-authorization feature that allows prescribing physicians to check any patient’s insurance eligibility for any prescription automatically, at the touch of a screen, before sending that prescription to Surescripts’ routing network

ACA (Affordable Care Act), primary care doc shortage, aging population, chronic disease make this telehealth's moment..CVS is working with three telehealth companies -- American Well, Doctor On Demand and Teladoc -- on how, together with pharmacies, they might expand and improve on...patient care.