Pharmaceuticals

05/22/2013 Bookmark and Share Share Post
Insurance/Benefits

Humana to Open Mail-Order Pharmacy in Irving

Humana plans to open a mail-order pharmacy call center and support operation in Irving in August, and expects to create more than 620 new jobs over the next three years. The pharmacy, called RightSource, is Humana’s pharmacy management company that provides mail-order delivery to members. RightSource – with similar operations in Arizona and Ohio – serves 1.5 million customers and filled nearly 20 million prescriptions in 2012, making it one of the nation’s largest mail order pharmacies. Humana plans to renovate all three floors of a building at 2001 W. John Carpenter Freeway to accommodate operations. The location of LifeSynch,… Full Story

05/22/2013 Bookmark and Share Share Post
Pharmaceuticals

Addison-based Concentra Sells Toxicology and Lab Business to Quest Diagnostics

New Jersey-based Quest Diagnostics, the world’s leading provider of diagnostic information services, has acquired the toxicology and clinical laboratory business of Addison-based Concentra. Quest Diagnostics also has entered into a long-term agreement with Concentra to be its primary provider of workplace drug toxicology and clinical laboratory testing. “With this transaction, Concentra’s patients, physicians and employer clients will gain access to Quest’s industry-leading menu of innovative workplace drug and clinical lab diagnostic information services,” Steve Rusckowski, Quest Diagnostics president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. Concentra’s advanced toxicology network laboratory business is based in Memphis, Tenn. Under the service agreement,… Full Story

05/21/2013 Bookmark and Share Share Post
Pharmaceuticals

FDA Alert Targets Dallas-based NuVision Pharmacy

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an alert to healthcare providers not to use sterile products made and distributed by Dallas-based compounding pharmacy NuVision Pharmacy because of concerns about a lack of sterility. The FDA issued the alert after a recent inspection of the NuVision Dallas facility, where FDA investigators observed what they considered poor sterile production practices. In April, NuVision recalled methylcobalamin and lyophilized injection products due to a lack of sterility assurance and concerns associated with the quality control processes identified a previous FDA inspection.

04/29/2013 Bookmark and Share Share Post
Government/Law

25 Percent of DFW Elderly Prescribed High-Risk Meds

The Dallas and Fort Worth Medicare hospital referral regions are above the national average in prescribing risky medications to Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollees, according to a study in the April edition of the Journal of General Internal Medicine. About 25 percent of MA enrollees in the Fort Worth region received at least one high-risk medication and 6 percent received at least two. Figures in the Dallas region were slightly lower, with about 23 percent of Dallas region enrollees were prescribed at least one high-risk medication and 5.5 percent were prescribed at least two. D Healthcare Daily asked the researchers to… Full Story

04/1/2013 Bookmark and Share Share Post
Pharmaceuticals

E-prescribing Fueling Lower Drug Spending

E-prescribing has led to physicians prescribing lower-cost drugs, according to a study by Decision Resources, a Massachusetts healthcare consulting firm. More than 60 percent of physicians with e-prescribing systems can access their patients’ drug formulary data. Of those, 3 out of 4 say they pay more attention to costs, American Medical News reported. IMS Health reported last month that prescription drug spending fell in 2012, which was the first time since the company began tracking that data in 1957.

02/21/2013 Bookmark and Share Share Post
Hospitals

THR ED Pharmacist Seeks to Cut Adverse Drug Events

Eric Horne, a pharmacist at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth, said some patients are surprised to see him when they come to the emergency department (ED). “I get an array of responses. Some are surprised. Others see the white coat and figure I’m just a doctor,” Horne said. Horne works as part of ED care team to attempt to sort out what medications patients are taking. He said each patient could take as long as 30-40 minutes to get an accurate record, and he enters that data into the computer. Most ED physicians rely on the patients’ drug… Full Story

02/12/2013 1 comment Bookmark and Share Share Post
Pharmaceuticals

TMA Seeks to Improve ‘Doctor Shopping’ Database

Texas needs a more usable database to catch the estimated 10 percent of prescribed opioid users who are “doctor shopping,” according to C.M. Schade, MD, a Garland pain management specialist. The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) in August launched an online prescription drug-monitoring database called Prescription Access in Texas. Schade, who is past president of the Texas Pain Society and represents the organization on Texas Medical Association’s (TMA) Interspecialty Committee, said the system is cumbersome and needs to be improved. TMA is working with Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, to allow physician practices to use the database more practically… Full Story

02/7/2013 Bookmark and Share Share Post
Medical Devices

Morning Rounds (02.07.13)

More than half of physicians are unaware of the disclosures required by the Sunshine Act ,released last week by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.

Texans with a mental illness are 50 percent more likely to smoke cigarettes, the Centers for Disease Control reports.

Teenagers who experience more positive interactions with their family are more likely to have stronger relationships and marriages later on in life. Full Story

02/6/2013 Bookmark and Share Share Post
Medical Devices

Majority of Physicians Unaware of Sunshine Act

More than half of physicians are unaware of the disclosures required by the Sunshine Act released last week by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, according to a survey MMIS, a global technology company. The law requires that medical device and pharmaceutical companies must report their payments to physicians and disclose them in a publicly available database. The regulation was part of the Affordable Care Act. The survey results actually reflected a 5 percent increase in lack of awareness of the law’s provisions compared with a year ago, according to MMIS.