News

The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on March 18 issued a nationwide alert about the dangers of fentanyl and fentanyl analogues/compounds.

Premera Blue Cross and Lifewise Health Plan had websites offering protections for affected individuals ready to go the day they announced a breach of up to 11 million records of members, vendors and employees.

Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) received FDA approval on November 14, 2014, under fast track designation, for the treatment of patients with relapsing forms of MS.Due to the safety profile, alemtuzumab should generally be reserved for patients who have had an inadequate response to 2 or more drugs indicated for MS.

FDA has approved asenapine (Saphris, Actavis) for treatment of manic or mixed episodes of bipolar I disorder in pediatric patients, ages 10 to 17 years old.

Alirocumab (Praluent), a PCSK9 inhibitor, reduced low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels in patients who are receiving statin therapy, according to a study published online in the New England Journal of Medicine.

A majority of Americans have compared prices before getting care and most want to do so, but access is still a barrier.

There is widespread overuse of psychiatric drugs by older Americans with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia who live at home or in assisted living facilities, according to a new General Accountability Office (GAO) report.

In patients with type 2 diabetes and recent acute coronary syndrome (ACS), dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP-4) inhibitor alogliptin compared to placebo did not increase the risk of heart failure (HF) outcomes, according to data published in The Lancet.

Expanding blood pressure screenings to non-primary care settings can help identify more patients with high blood pressure and could contribute to better hypertension control and management, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published in The Journal of Clinical Hypertension.

FDA released new draft guidance designed to make it easier for generic manufacturers to introduce competition to 38 existing drug products, according to the agency’s Federal Register notice.

You’ve considered all the risks posed by the new HIPAA guidelines, but did you include streaming media?

Read what a panel of distinguished industry experts has to say about the increasingly difficult job of managing specialty pharmaceuticals.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts has taken big steps to curb the growing opioid addiction problem.

Many employers that offer generous health insurance packages are not looking forward to 2018, when the so-called Cadillac tax will impose a 40% penalty on high-cost health plans.

Mobile device health apps have the potential to transform healthcare, but their exploding use is also giving rise to new concerns about privacy and security.

Provisions of the Affordable Care Act will cost $142 billion less over the 2016–2025 period than originally estimated by government agencies, due to slower premium growth and changes in enrollment sources.

Health plans focused on communicating more effectively with their members got good news from the J.D. Power 2015 Member Health Plan Study, which showed a 17 point bump in satisfaction in the areas of information and communication.

Health plans struggling to rein in pharmacy costs are using mail service, disease management programs, financial incentives for generics, member cost sharing, and, increasingly, limited and closed formularies.

Health plans and providers play a critical role in maintaining U.S. vaccination rates and can help reverse the recent MMR vaccination-rate decline, a factor responsible for the recent re-emergence of measles.

The digital revolution of the Internet of Things (IoT) has advanced the fields of home automation, automotive, energy and manufacturing, and healthcare is next.

Executives of Medicare managed plans can benefit from knowing the challenges of the Medical Loss Ratio, a key cost control tool that went into effect last year.

A nationwide interoperability roadmap released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in January outlines a set of critical actions healthcare players need to take between now and 2024 to get to a fax machine-free future.

Healthcare stakeholders are touting the benefits of transparency, but to see real change, we also need clarity.

FDA has warned that the smoking cessation drug varenicline (Chantix) can interact with alcohol, resulting in some patients experiencing increased intoxicating effects of alcohol, sometimes associated with aggressive behavior and/or amnesia.

FDA's approval of the “generic" biologic prescription version of cancer medicine Neupogen opens the door to a movement that could save the US healthcare system tens of billions of dollars a year, according to Forbes.

Better post-hospital care is needed for sepsis patients to avoid readmissions that drive up costs and interfere with recovery, according to a study published in the March 10 issue of JAMA.

A new, “next generation” accountable care organization model that encourages greater coordination between providers and beneficiaries has been launched by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Taking commonly used medications with anticholinergic effects is associated with a significantly higher risk for developing pneumonia, according to a study published recently in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

FDA approved dinutuximab (Unituxin, United Therapeutics) as part of first-line therapy for pediatric patients with high-risk neuroblastoma, a type of cancer that most often occurs in young children.

The Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute has awarded Kaiser Permanente $14.4 million to compare strategies for active surveillance of current and former smokers to scan for potentially cancerous small growths in the lungs, including more versus less intensive strategies.