It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement surrounding innovations in the medical field, Amazon Pharmacy Chief Medical Officer Dr. Vin Gupta noted. But when talking about these innovations, healthcare leaders often fail to address questions about whether they will be covered by insurance and whether all patients will be able to benefit from them, he pointed out.
We should strive for a future where patients have easy and affordable access to medications, supported on their journey by trusted pharmacy professionals who are an integral part of their care team.
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
Proposals targeting misaligned financial incentives, price transparency, and pharmacy access are important and necessary reforms. But the consequences of failing to address pharmacy benefit managers’ use of market power to block competition and extract monopoly profits from payers and consumers will not be limited to drug costs – it will change all of healthcare for generations.
Walgreens is seeing “an enormous amount of demand” for injectable weight loss drugs, its president of U.S. healthcare said during the Reuters Total Health conference in Chicago. He declared that the healthcare industry needs to come up with a reimbursement model “that correctly compensates pharmacists and others” to administer these drugs. In his view, reimbursement hasn't caught up with the demand.
In an interview, Surescripts’ Clinical Product Advisor Cecelia Byers shared how the company is working to simplify prescribing and obtaining specialty medications.
San Francisco-based Plenful emerged from stealth on Tuesday. The startup sells a workflow tool that automates manual and administrative workflows for pharmacy technicians. In addition to its launch out of stealth mode, the company also announced that it has closed a $9 million funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners and signed contracts with more than 20 customers.
At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.
Increasingly, patients in the U.S. look to Canada for more affordable prescription options since the Canadian government regulates drug costs. Some companies have noticed and are beginning to capitalize on the demand.
The second quarter of 2023 ended with 309 active drug shortages, the highest total in nearly a decade, according to a new report from ASHP. One of the organization’s executives pointed out that drug shortages have two major impacts on health systems: they create a lot of extra work for the pharmacy department, and they force clinicians to make tough decisions about patient care that could potentially result in worse patient outcomes.
Hospitals’ pharmacy spending is projected to rise by 3.42% next year, according to a new report. Specialty drugs, including Ozempic and Humira, as well as neurology medications are the primary drivers of this increase in pharmacy expenses.
Even as value-based care finds its footing and expands further, team-based approaches to care delivery incorporating pharmacists as crucial connections are already bearing results—helping provider organizations achieve 5-star CMS ratings for medication adherence, driving down costs, and driving up the quality of life for patients.
Gabby Everett, the site director for BioLabs Pegasus Park, offered a tour of the space and shared some examples of why early-stage life science companies should choose North Texas.
At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.
Implementing a specialty pharmacy strategy and approach for growth not only creates a revenue stream for the system, but also establishes a high-touch patient engagement program that becomes a differentiator in the way service is delivered for their community.
Hospital executives should rethink the immediate impulse to achieve savings by cutting pharmacy jobs and instead focus on fixing this integral part of a hospital system’s functionality.
There is a huge opportunity for PBMs and health systems to use AI to help address the challenges surrounding the affordability and accessibility of medicines, from navigating formularies to resolving prior authorization. More automation in pharmacies and with ordering workflows is one piece of that puzzle.
The creation of consistent and high value engagements with individuals across their digital and in-person engagements will enable these providers to both attract and retain consumers in the rapidly evolving healthcare ecosystem.