Smart pump technology reduces errors and saves lives
October 13th 2008Hospitals throughout California are embracing smart pump technology as a way to reduce error and save lives. Among them are The Little Company of Mary (Torrance), Torrance Memorial Medical Center, and the Kaiser Permanente South Bay Medical Center in Harbor City.
Provident Hospital in Chicago opens a bigger, better pharmacy
October 13th 2008Cook County's Provident Hospital in Chicago has opened a pharmacy three times the size of the old one. The new facility offers six customer-service stations instead of two, seating capacity for 90 people, an additional 1,400 square feet of work space, and restrooms.
SureScripts-RxHub eliminates barriers to e-prescribing in Rhode Island
October 13th 2008Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Rhode Island teams up with Wellpoint NextRx, an independent pharmacy benefit management company, to offer Rhode Island physicians SureScripts-RxHub connectivity, expanding their use of electronic health records and managing patients' prescriptions online.
North Dakota's pharmacy ownership law faces challenges from chain drugstores and hospitals
October 13th 2008North Dakota pharmacists must own at least 51 percent of their pharmacies. This has kept many stores from opening in communities throughout the state. Hospitals and drugstore chains are fighting to change the law.
West Virginia free clinics face regulation by state pharmacy board
October 13th 2008Free clinics in West Virginia dispense more than 500,000 prescriptions a year. Earlier this year they came under regulation by the state pharmacy board. Defenders argue that the board is trying to fix something that isn't broken. The board says that patient safety requires oversight.
Kansas City pharmacists mobilize to fight meth use
October 13th 2008Criminals buy cold remedies for the pseudoephedrine, which they use to make methamphetamine. Kansas pharmacists are fighting back with MethShield, an electronic program that tracks sales and catches illegal purchasers in the act. It even calls the cops.
Walgreens back in business in Galveston
September 26th 2008While emergency officials scramble to restore power to homes and businesses throughout the hurricane-ravaged Galveston, Texas-area, Walgreens has reopened it store in the midst of the city to provide much-needed supplies and pharmacy services.