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When pharmacy director Steve Sievert needs to talk to someone at Baptist Medical Center South (BMCS) in Jacksonville, Fla., he doesn't bother with the telephone. He just tells the Vocera hanging around his neck. The tiny wireless communications device either finds the person somewhere on the hospital campus or routes the request to voice mail.

The other day, I had a patient who told me, "The doctor won't let me have any more Meridia, and it's your fault."

Don't leave the future of pharmacy practice in the hands of others. So urged John Gans, executive VP of APhA, at a recent seminar on drug importation and counterfeiting at the Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in New York.

ADA: Florida Medicaid reform threatens diabetics CMS pushes Part D help for lower-income folks Single-day Famvir shortens duration of herpes Nurses again top R.Ph.s in ethics poll Longs, Calif. Blue Shield to market Medicare Part D Pharmacists disagree over morning-after pill bill Survey: Physicians, R.Ph.s disagree on OTC statins Study explains higher risk of hypertension in Blacks LTCPA to CMS: Let's discuss rebate disclosure Novartis issues breast cancer drug warning FDA committee supports safety of Daytrana Amgen warns about Aranesp, Epogen Flomax tied to cataract surgery condition FDA approves simplified Kogenate reconstitution Firm seeks reports of Medicare Rx fraud, abuse British R.Ph.s win independent prescribing Part D Web site inflated some Rx prices

A revolution in the pharmacologic treatment of hypertension is under way, according to experts reporting at a conference called "The State of the Hypertension Nation," held recently in New York City. Here are some highlights from the conference.

After three recent deaths—each linked to medication administration errors—at two California Kaiser Permanente hospitals, the organization has taken aggressive measures to prevent these types of horrific mistakes.

A patient safety initiative that emphasizes the importance of evidence-based protocols to fight hospital-acquired infections won recognition recently from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.

A pharmacist-led multidisciplinary team at Evanston (Ill.) Northwestern Healthcare (ENH) has earned for the health system the 2005 Award for Medication-Use Safety.

In a timely marriage of technology and data, RxHub and Siemens Medical Solutions recently signed an agreement to provide outpatient medication records electronically to inpatient clinicians. The move takes place in anticipation of the medication reconciliation patient safety goal set this year by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations for implementation in the nation's hospitals in January 2006.

A new wireless medication management system from Cerner and Hospira may significantly reduce intravenous pump errors. The new system integrates Cerner's bar-code point-of-care (BPOC) system with Hospira's smart pump to ensure that the right patient is getting the right dose of the right drug at the right time by the right route of administration.

When pharmacy director Steve Sievert needs to talk to someone at Baptist Medical Center South (BMCS) in Jacksonville, Fla., he doesn't bother with the telephone. He just tells the Vocera hanging around his neck. The tiny wireless communications device either finds the person somewhere on the hospital campus or routes the request to voice mail.

Though blockbusters that wreak havoc on budgets are not anticipated, some new agents still bear watching.

The foundation standards that will govern electronic prescribing in Medicare have been finalized by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Whether it's the ongoing steroids controversy surrounding Major League baseball or another Olympic athlete being banned from competition, the use of illegal steroids and performance-enhancing drugs is clearly on the rise. Because of this, both collegiate and professional sports teams are finding themselves under increasing pressure to monitor the drugs their athletes take.