Content about Healthcare

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT The news that Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Virginia is developing tools to help members throughout the state easily access information on lower-cost emergency room alternatives -- like retail-based health clinics -- is just one more indicator that the physician shortage and soaring healthcare costs are taking a major toll on Americans.

(THE NEWS: Local Blue Cross Blue Shield offers ER alternatives to members. For the full story, click here)

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT The evidence keeps piling up.

(THE NEWS: Pharmacist-patient relationships improve health, lower costs of care, UNC-Kerr study reveals. For the full story, click here)

Community pharmacy has demonstrated, over and over, and with remarkable consistency, that retail pharmacists bring real value to the healthcare system.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. In a new plea to Congress, the chain pharmacy industry renewed its support for the rapid nationwide adoption of health information technology as a major tool in the nation’s drive to improve patient compliance with medication therapy.

NEW YORK Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders on Monday announced its partnership with the AARP Foundation and the American Journal of Nursing in a recently launched project to help health professionals work more effectively with family caregivers.

Funded by a grant from the Jacob & Valeria Langeloth Foundation, the new effort will create educational materials and toolkits to help nurses and social workers provide more effective support for family caregivers.

CINCINNATI According to a survey conducted by Pulse Health & Wellness Initiatives, manufacturers are not sufficiently communicating the health benefits of their brands to meet the needs of healthcare professionals.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT CVS Caremark made a major push to showcase the tools it uses to curb costs as it revealed a study indicating that more lax generic regulations could save states millions of dollars, not to mention that its annual insights report revealed an increase in generic dispensing rates.

(THE NEWS: CVS Caremark study: Less restrictive generic laws could curb state Medicaid costs. For the full story, click here)

DETROIT In honor of its dedication to driving the adoption of e-prescribing technology in Michigan, the Southeast Michigan ePrescribing Initiative was presented with the 2010 Health Information Technology Innovation Leadership Award at the first annual Michigan HIT Leadership and Innovation Awards reception.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. Changing generic substitution laws in favor of less-restrictive regulations could save states struggling to pay for increasing healthcare costs through their Medicaid programs more than $100 million over the next several years, according to a new CVS Caremark study.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. The National Association of Chain Drug Stores and the National Community Pharmacists Association have voiced their support of the Senate medication therapy management bill, authored and introduced Tuesday by Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., as it aims to further pave the way for enhanced pharmacist-provided MTM services.

INDIANAPOLIS The nation's largest retailer has teamed up with a drug company to provide an affordable insulin option for people with diabetes.

Lilly's Humulin will be offered by mid-September to Walmart pharmacy patients under the dual-branded name Humulin ReliOn, including 10 mL vials of Humulin R U-100, Humulin N and Humulin 70/30 formulations.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT Though Drug Store News is a leader among trade publications for the retail pharmacy industry, its readership remains small compared with the consumer magazines one typically finds on a store shelf, thus keeping its wealth of news and analysis confined to a limited audience. But the publication of an article in The New York Times brings to nationwide attention an issue of critical importance that frequently receives play in this magazine’s pages: medication adherence.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT News that Take Care Health Systems has opened a second on-site pharmacy at an Electric Boat shipyard is further testament to the value of such on-site facilities at employer locations.

(THE NEWS: Walgreens adds Take Care pharmacy at Electric Boat's Groton shipyard. For the full story, click here)