NCPA pushes prompt pay as cure for Part D
June 18th 2007After repeated warning about the devastating impact of the Medicare Part D benefit, NCPA officials finally have the data to back it up. In 2006, the first year of the new drug benefit, more than 1,100 community pharmacies closed shop and those that survived saw dramatically lowered net operating income and sales income even as their prescription sales rose.
Dose counters to help with pediatric inhalers
June 18th 2007Fluticasone propionate inhalation aerosol (Flovent HFA 44 mcg) and fluticasone propionate inhalation powder (Flovent Diskus 50 mcg), both inhaled corticosteroids from GlaxoSmithKline, will now offer a dose counter for children aged four and older with mild, persistent asthma.
Report finds Januvia may become favored therapy
June 18th 2007The recent safety concerns regarding the use of the thiazolidinediones pioglitazone (Actos, Takeda) and rosiglitazone (Avandia, GlaxoSmithKline) and the risk that they lead to cardiac failure may cause an increased market uptake of other drugs used to treat Type 2 diabetes.
Latebreakers: New once-daily antihistamine to make its debut
June 18th 2007Long-acting levocetirizine (Xyzal, UCB/Sanofi-Aventis) has received regulatory approval for the relief of symptoms associated with seasonal and perennial allergic rhinitis and for uncomplicated skin manifestations of chronic idiopathic urticaria in adults and children six years of age and older.
Incontinence is important to drugstore demographics
June 18th 2007As many as 25 million people in North America are affected in varying degrees by the inability to completely control urination or bowel movements, with higher occurrences for women and the elderly. Despite what many people believe, bladder weakness is a symptom, not an illness.
Hospitals gearing up for new payment structure
June 18th 2007Hospital pharmacists involved in Medicare reimbursement will have to think twice when purchasing drugs for their pharmacy departments. CMS has announced a separate, and a reportedly more accurate payment structure for single source and biologic drugs.
New measures foster better cancer treatment
June 18th 2007After more than two years of collaborative effort, national quality measures for breast and colon cancer treatment are now in place. The American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer, working with two other professional organizations, recently received endorsement from the National Quality Forum for the first nationally recognized hospital-based performance measures for breast and colorectal cancer.
New report finds smart pump safety gaps
June 18th 2007Your smart infusion pumps-are they winners or also-rans? One of the first head-to-head technology comparisons by third-party consultants has some answers. Cardinal's Alaris system got top marks from leaders in pharmacy, nursing, information technology (IT), and other hospital departments. Out of a possible 100 points, Alaris got 89.8 for product technology, vendor service, product performance, business impact, and percentage of positive user comments. B. Braun's Outlook system came in second with 88.3, followed by Hospira's Plum A+/ MedNet at 85.9. Baxter's COLLEAGUE system ended a distant fourth at 61.2. Sigma missed the race entirely.
Open source spurs e-record adoption
June 18th 2007The move toward all-electronic health records is gathering momentum and support. Just over 38% of U.S. hospitals now use EHRs, according to a recent survey conducted by ASHP, up 31% in 2007. In hospitals that use EHRs, 94% of pharmacies have access to patient records.
Joint Commission flip-flops on ED medication reviews
June 18th 2007An interim action that the Joint Commission initially viewed as a relief to hospitals regarding the timeline for pharmacists' review of emergency department medication orders was suspended after 14 weeks because the accrediting organization realized it had instead created a huge burden.
Treating cancer-related infections: Here's how
June 18th 2007In an effort to keep pace with advances in the management of infectious complications in immunosuppressed cancer patients who are hospitalized, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network has released updated guidelines for the prevention and treatment of cancer-related infections.
150 Years of American Pharmacy: Fallout of National Formulary of Unofficial Preparations
June 18th 2007The publication of the National Formulary of Unofficinal Preparations along with the U.S. Pharmacopeia was essential to the transition to a new industrial age. Still, as pharmacists quickly learned, it also opened up the secret science of pharmacy to a new level of competition.