Pharmaceutical companies are smart and have figured out that it’s well worth their trouble to pay consumers’ co-pays, because the net revenue lift can still be very high once health plan spending is factored in. But this tactic should scare payers because it effectively wipes out the price signals payers are trying to send. It could also drive up pharmacy costs and premiums, too.

A new rule handed down by the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy limits state residents from transferring a prescription from one pharmacy to another more than once per year.

In what it’s calling a strategic — and not financial — move, the Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy (NEOUCOM) has laid off eight workers. NEOUCOM has also eliminated five vacant positions, but is recruiting to fill six others.

MDG Medical Inc. will move its research and development group to Aurora, Ohio, from Lod, Israel, by the end of March, creating up to 30 jobs. The developer of automated pharmacy technology is one of the first Israeli medical companies to relocate to Northeast Ohio this decade.

Research and graduate education are getting a new home at the Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy.The $42 million project would include a new 78,000-square-foot, three-story building and renovations of existing space. It is part of the first phase of a new 20-year master plan being developed for the Rootstown campus.Administrators who spent [...]

The Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy is moving forward with plans for a 77,000-square-foot research facility on its Rootstown campus after a state board gave the thumbs-up to a $42-million bond issue to finance the project.

Last week the Wall Street Journal reported that health reform might compel McDonald’s to drop the health insurance plan it offers it restaurant employees. Why? Because the plan doesn’t pay out a minimum of 85 percent of premiums in medical costs and has annual benefits caps under $750,000. McDonald’s denied the report but it has the ring of truth. In my view, McDonald’s is smart to offer the plans it does, and both Democrats and Republicans are going off in the wrong direction with their criticisms.

The Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy (NEOUCOM) has added a Master of Public Health degree, thanks to an accreditation extension by the Higher Learning Commission.The commission also approved the Rootstown, Ohio university for new Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in integrated pharmaceutical medicine, according to a NEOUCOM release.“These degrees [...]

Healthcare technology and services company CoverMyMeds LLC has received a $250,000 investment commitment from JumpStart Ventures to develop its application for automated submission of requests to cover patient prescriptions that have been rejected by insurers.The Twinsburg, Ohio, company has developed Web- and phone-based tools that speed up and automate the submission of Prior Authorization requests [...]

I watched a Curb Your Enthusiasm rerun recently in which Larry David has some interesting interactions with a doctor and a pharmacist over a prescription for his father. As usual, there’s an interesting real-life observation in the midst of a lot of nonsense and screwing around.To summarize:Larry’s father’s doctor hands Larry a prescription for a [...]