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Archive for May, 2010
The National Medicare Prescription Drug Congress
21, May 2010With a deadline of June 1, 2004, looming for the beginning of the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan (PDP) Discount Card program, a consortium of more than 30 organizations co-sponsored the National Medicare Prescription Drug Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, from February 25-27, 2004. The main objective was to assess the various areas of [...]
- In: Drugs
- Tags: Drug Congress, Drug Manufacturers, FDA Perspective
Medical Errors Still Rampant
20, May 2010As readers of P&T, you are probably aware of the abundance of articles that have been published on the topic of reducing medical errors and improving patient safety. What, then, makes the Wall of Silence different from all the other published materials and worthy of your time? The authors, both of whom have written in [...]
- In: Main
- Tags: Medical Errors
Securing Electronic HIPAA Data Becomes Hip
19, May 2010Whether you work for a formulary, a hospital pharmacy, a managed care plan, or a health maintenance organization (HMO), if you are a pharmacist, two things are certain: 1. You are dealing with “protected health information” (PHI). This term, which is used in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), includes, among other things, [...]
- In: Main
- Tags: Securing Electronic
Pfizer Diabetes
18, May 2010Occasionally, in this space, we review matters of concern to consumers and clinicians regarding clinical care. Recently, I commented on 1 on 1 health™, the consumer Web portal for GlaxoSmithKline (P&T February 2004). In this issue of P&T, I would like to add some context for another important Web portal for consumers and physicians, namely. [...]
- In: Diabetes
- Tags: Pfizer Diabetes
Suggestions for Resolving Conflicts in Drug Therapy
16, May 2010PROBLEM: Many serious medication errors that have been reported to the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) have involved drug orders that were considered by at least one practitioner to be unsafe. In some cases, the practitioners did not question the orders, because they were reluctant to challenge the prescriber. More often, the practitioners questioned [...]
- In: Drugs
- Tags: Drug Therapy
Second-Generation Antipsychotic Agents
15, May 2010By now, most readers know that I am not a psychiatrist! I was intrigued to read about a recent consensus development conference on the use of antipsychotic drugs and the development of obesity and diabetes—frankly, a connection that I had not realized.
- In: Drugs
- Tags: Antipsychotic Agents
Surf’s Up!
14, May 2010Mark Merritt, President of the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA), called it “a shock wave that will reverberate throughout the entire health care system.” He was referring to the announcement on July 21, 2004, by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Secretary Tommy Thompson of a broad effort to bring organized health care [...]