All News

The new competitive acquisition program (CAP) for Medicare Part Bdrugs aims to realign the market forces shaping the distribution ofdrugs and biologics that doctors administer in their offices. Butif it is to survive, CAP must balance market conditions affectingphysicians, vendors, and manufacturers. We believe it does not doso per the implementing regulations published in the Nov. 21Federal Register.

Updates on two important and ongoing projects were the focus of discussion at the 36th annual meeting of the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP), Senior Care Pharmacy '05, held recently in Boston.

Your chances of being audited "will likely double with Medicare Part D." This was the opening remark of H. Edward Heckman, R.Ph., president of PAAS National of Stoughton, Wis., a firm that provides consulting on third-party audits to pharmacists. Heckman was speaking at a pharmacy continuing education program sponsored by the Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences and the New York City Pharmacists Society.

Drug chains have some aces up their sleeves to draw more traffic.

While there was no "stop-the-presses" news to come out of the 40th ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting and Exhibition in Las Vegas last month, which drew a record-setting 20,000 registrants, several themes emerged that clearly resonated with attendees.

The Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) is best known to pharmacists for establishing the Part D prescription drug benefit. However, the bill also promotes Medicare modernization by providing standards and incentives for the adoption of e-prescribing. All prescription drug plans participating in Medicare must have the capability to handle e-prescribing.

Pharmacists trying to help elderly patients find their way through the Medicare Part D maze report that many seniors feel like that old song: "Bewitched, bothered, and bewildered."

What is the most effective way to treat substance-abuse disorders? Until last December, one guess was as good as another. That was when the National Quality Forum (NQF) published a set of seven evidence-based treatment practices it found effective in treating substance-use disorders, or SUDs. The NQF document also lists common barriers to the adoption of evidence-based treatment practices.

The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) issued newly revised guidelines for the evaluation and treatment of dyspepsia late last year. Pharmacotherapy with proton pump inhibitors remains the primary treatment modality, but the AGA has backed off from earlier recommendations for endoscopic examination of patients in early middle age.

Should pharmacists and technicians undergo the same continuing education programs or should separate activities be set up for these two professionals? This is a question the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) is now grappling with as part of its drive to update its CE accreditation standards. Dimitra Travlos, Pharm.D., BCPS, assistant executive director at ACPE, gave attendees of the ASHP midyear meeting in Las Vegas an update on this issue last month.

Most Part D plans use USP model guidelines The voluntary drug classification system developed by USP for theMedicare Part D benefit was the basis for 74% of the formulariesdeveloped by drug plans for the 2006 benefit year.