- Pharmacy Times Week in Review: July 31, 2015 (pharmacytimes.com)
Ashley Talamo, Publisher: Pharmacy Times...(PTNN) This weekly video program highlights the latest in pharmacy news, product news, and more. (video)
- CVS Health partners with two new health systems (drugstorenews.com)
CVS Health has entered into two new clinical affiliations with Lawrence Memorial Hospital…Lehigh Valley Health Network… enhance access to patient care, improve health outcomes and lower health care costs.. encourages collaboration between the healthcare providers and MinuteClinic practitioners..
- Jean Coutu readies for expanded pharmacist services (chaindrugreview.com)
Jean Coutu Group is prepping …pharmacists for expanded health care services now available through pharmacies…Quebec implemented Bill 41, which amended the province’s Pharmacy Act to enable pharmacists to provide certain health care services previously performed only by doctors...
- Extend a doctor’s prescription.
- Prescribe medication when a diagnosis is not required to prevent certain health problems, including such areas as travel health, pregnancy, women’s health, smoking cessation and public health.
- Prescribe medication for certain conditions in which a patient has already received a prescription from a doctor.
- Substitute a medication in case of a supplier inventory shortage.
- Administer medication to a patient to demonstrate the drug’s administration method.
- Adjust the form, dosage, quantity or dose of a prescription according to a patient’s condition.
- Prescribe certain laboratory tests related to a patient’s medication.
- CVS, Watson confront chronic disease (healthcareitnews.com)
CVS Health, …and Watson, IBM's cognitive computing platform, are joining forces to take on chronic diseases. The plan? Eradicate conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and obesity… to advance care management beyond programs and services typically available today,…has to do with Watson’s ability to read and understand vast amounts of information, and to continuously learn.
- Stability Findings Raise Issue of Syringes as Storage Containers (ashp.org)ISMP Medication Safety - SPECIAL ALERT - Loss of Drug Potency (ismp.org)
Plastic syringes… well-known manufacturer...says its sterile syringes are not intended to store compounded drug solutions for more than 24 hours….BD plastic sterile hypodermic syringes are not intended or FDA-cleared for storage… medical centers…reported "potency issues" after preparing "certain medications" in 3- or 5-mL BD syringes…Institute for Safe Medication Practices reported…in its acute care edition of ISMP Medication Safety Alert!
- Lawsuit accuses CVS of overcharging for generic drugs (washingtonpost.com)
CVS Health Corp. deliberately overcharged some pharmacy customers for generic drugs by submitting claims to their insurance companies at inflated prices, according to a lawsuit...seeks class-action status,... unspecified damages.
- Proof-of-concept study shows successful transport of blood samples with small drones (medicalxpress.com)Can Unmanned Aerial Systems (Drones) Be Used for the Routine Transport of Chemistry, Hematology, and Coagulation Laboratory Specimens? (journals.plos.org)
proof-of-concept study…researchers have shown that results of common and routine blood tests are not affected by up to 40 minutes of travel via hobby-sized drones… investigators say that's promising news…people ..in rural and economically impoverished areas ...give health care workers quick access to lab tests.. Drones already have been tested as carriers of medicines…
- Bartell Drugs to sponsor ‘School Tools for Kids in Need’ program (drugstorenews.com)
Bartell Drugs announced…inviting donations of school supplies and hygiene products for its 12th annual "School Tools for Kids in Need," from Aug. 2 through Aug. 29 at all 64 Bartell Drugs locations,... "With so many area children lacking basic school supplies, there’s never been a more important time to support this endeavor,"
- Name Confusion Between Brintellix, Brilinta Causes Dispensing Errors (pharmacytimes.com)
FDA is warning health care professionals and patients about prescribing and dispensing errors related to confusion between the antidepressant Brintellix and the blood thinner Brilinta...the FDA...reduce the risk of brand name confusion by including the generic name—vortioxetine for Brintellix and ticagrelor for Brilinta....
- AHIP(America’s Health Insurance Plans): How insurers offset rising specialty drug costs (fiercehealthpayer.com)
specialty drug costs continue to rise, insurers are working to implement innovative strategies to offset those increased prices, while still helping their members gain access to important treatments,...
- personalized care programs
- copayment assistance programs
- community support programs
- integrated condition-level therapy management program
- condition-specific fulfillment teams
- drug-specific coaching and support