Content about Healthcare

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The mail-order pharmacy business of pharmacy benefit manager Prime Therapeutics has received accreditation from the Washington-based healthcare accrediting organization URAC, Prime said Wednesday.

Prime received its first mail-service pharmacy accreditation on Jan. 1, 2009, and will remain accredited through Jan. 1, 2016, the company said.

ANDOVER, Mass. — More than 10% of Americans consider Web-enabled, mobile health apps a part of their health care and key to living long lives, according to a new survey by a division of electronics manufacturer Philips.

Royal Philips Electronics commissioned Opinion Research to conduct a survey of 1,003 adults, finding that 11% said that were it not for Web-based health information, they might already be "dead or severely incapacitated."

E-prescribing offers many well-known benefits to physicians, pharmacists and patients alike. Beyond the well-known patient benefits, real-time transactions with automated requests and responses promise to create efficiencies by speeding the medication ordering process, reducing or eliminating the back-and-forth communications between pharmacists and clinicians commonly associated with handwritten prescriptions.

BOSTON — The state health department in Massachusetts has made changes to the state's pharmacy board and leveled sanctions against three pharmacies in the wake of a nationwide meningitis outbreak traced to a compounding pharmacy in the state, the department said.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS/pharmacy has introduced a variety of new features to its mobile suite, which consists of the CVS mobile app and a mobile-optimized website at m.CVS.com.

The new features range from health resources that make it easier to schedule immunizations and identify pills, to a sleeker look and feel for the CVS Mobile app that makes mobile shopping a snap.

NEW YORK — Specialty pharmacy purchasing and channel management group Armada Health Care and healthcare services company Amerinet will provide services to each other's members under a co-marketing agreement, the two companies said Monday.

Amerinet members will receive access to Armada's specialty pharmacy services, while Armada will also provide members technology services, network access, limited-distribution products and others. Meanwhile, Armada members will receive Amerinet's contract portfolio of medical surgical and other non-pharmaceutical products.

A recent survey found a significant increase in the number of U.S. adults who have visited a retail clinic in recent years. The growth is attributed to a rise in the number of clinics nationwide, as well as patients’ positive response to the convenience and lower cost of such clinic locations.

Use of electronic health records 
improves medical outcomes among patients with diabetes, according to a recent study conducted by Kaiser Permanente.


REDWOOD CITY, Ga. — Medagate on Thursday announced the first implementation of its 2.0 restricted-spend platform, which encourages eligible consumers to make healthy living choices by purchasing qualified items at the point of sale. Fred's Super Dollar stores in North Carolina and Georgia will be the first stores to implement the new capabilities. 

Recently, I had a brief conversation with a man I admire and respect very much, regarding the cover story of the Oct. 15 issue of DSN, “Building the ACO.”


“Eder, what’s an ACO?” the man asked.


I explained that it stands for accountable care organization; basically, it means providers from different practice settings working together to spread primary care responsibility across an integrated healthcare team. 


“You think that’s good?”


For decades, community pharmacy has waged a tireless campaign to gain recognition as an equal partner on the nation’s healthcare delivery team, and support for the role pharmacists can play as front-line patient care advocates. That campaign has become increasingly urgent as hospital and primary care costs go through the roof, payers seek lower-cost healthcare solutions and health reform shifts the focus from traditional modes of fee-for-service payment to a reimbursement system that rewards successful patient outcomes.