Costco Wholesale: What Is Its Pharmacy Strategy? It's Complicated.
Conclusion: Costco Pharmacy Manages Hybrid Cash/Insurance Payments for Rx Drugs Better Than Most Other Big Pharmacy Chains. Still, Costco Won ' tALWAYS Be the Low-Price Leader Because of How the U.S. Prescription Drug Market Functions.Costco Pharmacy ' s cash prices for many prescriptions may be low enough for people to simply bypass their insurance and pay out-of-pocket, which Costco welcomes, similar to how Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co. or a number of other rapidly-growing, cash-only pharmacies which are popping up nationwide operate because their cash prices may be potentially even cheaper than by using insurance. Howev...
Source: Scott's Web Log - January 21, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2023 Big pharma bypass insurance cash pharmacy cash-only pharmacy Costco Costco Wholesale Corp. PBM ' Source Type: blogs
Accepting your Future Avatar: Leveraging Digital Twins for Transforming Healthcare
by SMRITI KIRUBANANDAN
A possibility to do better and be better by observing yourself (your twin) reacting to various feeds and gaining the ability to gain better care and improve research, seems like a super power. The concept of a Digital Twin is the ability to replicate a person, an object or a process derived from extracting various data points from internet of things (IOT) that are attached to the original object. One can view how the digital twin responds to various feeds and give us a deeper understanding on the possibilities and impact for the real person or object. Shifting this concept into healthcare, I am ...
Source: The Health Care Blog - December 29, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: matthew holt Tags: Health Tech Burnout Consumer Digital Twin SMRITI KIRUBANANDAN Source Type: blogs
Bonus Features – November 13, 2022 – HCA extends 30-year relationship with MEDITECH, cost of care replaces pandemic as top reason to defer care, and more
This article will be a weekly roundup of interesting stories, product announcements, new hires, partnerships, research studies, awards, sales, and more. Because there’s so much happening out there in healthcare IT we aren’t able to cover in our full articles, we still want to make sure you’re informed of all the latest news, announcements, and stories happening to help you better do your job.
News and Research
HCA Healthcare signed a new agreement for a large-scale deployment of MEDITECH Expanse, continuing a relationship with the EHR vendor that has spanned three decades and been recognized with the 2021 CHIME Colla...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - November 13, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: Brian Eastwood Tags: EMR-EHR Healthcare IT AbsoluteCare Atropos Health BARDA Bioverge Cerner CharmHealth directtrust HCA Healthcare HCTec Healthcare IT Today Bonus Features Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital Julie McCorkle Lifehouse MDaudit Meditec Source Type: blogs
Pfizer ’s Biotech Strategy: When a “Market Force” Partners with a “Market Mover”
by JESSICA DAMASSA, WTF HEALTH
The synergistic relationship between biotech’s and biopharma’s can dramatically change the way new drugs and vaccines are bought to market – helping advance innovation on BOTH sides in a very mutually beneficial way. I’ve got an inside look at how Pfizer is working with emerging biotech start-ups, thanks to this in-depth chat with Pfizer’s Senior Vice President of Business Innovation, Kathy Fernando.
Kathy is not only responsible for developing relationships with biotech’s on behalf of Pfizer, BUT during the pandemic she led Pfizer’s mRNA scientific strategy, ...
Source: The Health Care Blog - October 27, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: matthew holt Tags: Pharmaceuticals biopharma Innovation Jessica DaMassa Pfizer Source Type: blogs
The Future of Clinical Trials at Pfizer
BY JESSICA DaMASSA
From de-centralized clinical trials to real world data (RWD), real world evidence (RWE), and even social media, the future for clinical research at Pfizer sounds increasingly tech-enabled and focused on meeting and engaging patients where they are.
Pfizer’s Head of Clinical Trial Experience, Judy Sewards, and Head of Clinical Operations & Development, Rob Goodwin, drop in to chat about what Pfizer’s approach to clinical research looks like now, after the rapid evolution it underwent to “lightspeed” the development of the Covid-19 vaccine.
The big change? Rob says they are “obsess...
Source: The Health Care Blog - September 22, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Ryan Bose-Roy Tags: Health Tech Uncategorized WTF Health Clinical Trials de-centralized trials Pfizer Source Type: blogs
Vaccine Myocarditis Update
BY ANISH KOKA
The European Medicines Agency decided on July 19, 2021 that myocarditis and pericarditis be added to the list of adverse effects of both messenger RNA (mRNA) based vaccines (BNT162b2 [Pfizer-BioNTech] and mrna-1273 [Moderna]) against COVID-19. This advice was based on numerous reports of myocarditis that followed a clinical pattern that strongly suggested a causal link between these particular vaccines and myocarditis/pericarditis. The adverse events that appeared to be predominantly in young men typically occurred within a week after injection, and were clustered after the second dose of the vaccine serie...
Source: The Health Care Blog - September 7, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Ryan Bose-Roy Tags: COVID-19 Health Policy Uncategorized Anish Koka cardiology Source Type: blogs
Generic Crestor Pricing Insanity
For a number of years, I ' ve used a statin drug (like 35 million Americans in the United States do). For more than a few years, these drugs were rather costly and protected by exclusive patent protection, although at the time, they were mostly covered by my insurance to prevent major heart attacks which could cost them even more (hundreds of thousands of dollars in claims).I ' ve used several different low-dose statins over the years, mostly for their preventative benefits. I initially began with Pfizer ' s Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium), but I experienced some pretty severe muscle aches which made it difficult for me to ...
Source: Scott's Web Log - August 23, 2022 Category: Endocrinology Tags: rosuvastatin calcium coupon-generating websites apps coupons Crestor generic generics PBM Source Type: blogs
Pharmacists Can Now Prescribe Paxlovid. Good idea?
BY ANISH KOKA
Apparently, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), that has long been charged with the safety and efficacy of drugs and devices now also controls who can prescribe drugs.
I was under the mistaken impression that in our highly rule based society you would need to pass a law to allow that to happen. Passing laws , of course, can be a long, messy, process that involves having to convince constituencies, and ruling by executive order is just way more efficient apparently.
So by decree of the FDA patients can now get Paxlovid, an anti-viral for the virus that causes COVID19, “directly from...
Source: The Health Care Blog - August 22, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Ryan Bose-Roy Tags: Medical Practice Physicians Primary Care COVID-19 FDA Paxlovid Source Type: blogs
CNN myocarditis fact check by a Cardiologist (me)
BY ANISH KOKA
A recent CNN article discusses approval of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine for people ages 6-17. The CDC director acted after its vaccine advisers on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted unanimously to support the two dose Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for kids in this age group. The goal per CDC director Walensky was to “protect our children and teens from the complications of severe COVID-19 disease”
The elephant in the room that the CDC advisory group addressed is the risk of myocarditis from the vaccines that has been widely reported since April of 2021 by multipl...
Source: The Health Care Blog - August 10, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Ryan Bose-Roy Tags: Health Policy Public Health CNN myocarditis Source Type: blogs
Novartis' Sandoz Is Back In The Insulin Biosims Market. Can It Succeed?
Back in December 2018, the Sandoz division of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis announced (see the full announcementHERE) " Sandoz enters into commercialization and supply agreement for insulin biosimilars " . It also revealed that Sandoz had entered a " commercialization and supply agreement with Gan& Lee " which it added was " a leading insulin supplier headquartered in China with more than 20 years ' experience in insulins and production capacity with attractive cost of goods sold (COGS) structures " .Few Americans have ever heard of Gan& Lee, although this year, at the American Diabetes Association ' s 82nd S...
Source: Scott's Web Log - July 22, 2022 Category: Endocrinology Tags: insulin analogs 2022 Biosimilar biosimilars generics insulin analogues Novartis Sandoz Source Type: blogs
mRNA Vaccines: From Tackling Pandemic To Treating Cancer
The story of the multi-decade uphill battle Katalin Karikó and her fellow researchers fought to prove messenger RNA can viably be used in medicine is widely known today. In just as little as two years, the world has learned about mRNA technology and how fast it can react when the need arises holding almost unlimited promises in future applications. As always is the case with “instant hits” in science, the ride was actually very long and bumpy, but more on that later.
What is mRNA?
In very simple terms: messenger ribonucleic acids (or mRNAs in short) are the body’s natural way to transport messages from o...
Source: The Medical Futurist - July 12, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: Andrea Koncz Tags: TMF Forecast Biotechnology Future of Medicine Nanotechnology cancer cancer research covid19 vaccine research HIV mRNA messenger RNA cancer vaccine malaria malaria vaccine HIV vaccine pancreatic cancer pancreatic cancer va Source Type: blogs
mRNA Vaccines: From Tackling A Pandemic To Treating Cancer
The story of the multi-decade uphill battle Katalin Karikó and her fellow researchers fought to prove messenger RNA can viably be used in medicine is widely known today. In just as little as two years, the world has learned about mRNA technology and how fast it can react when the need arises holding almost unlimited promises in future applications. As always is the case with “instant hits” in science, the ride was actually very long and bumpy, but more on that later.
What is mRNA?
In very simple terms: messenger ribonucleic acids (or mRNAs in short) are the body’s natural way to transport messages from o...
Source: The Medical Futurist - July 12, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: Andrea Koncz Tags: TMF Forecast Biotechnology Future of Medicine Nanotechnology cancer cancer research covid19 vaccine research HIV mRNA messenger RNA cancer vaccine malaria malaria vaccine HIV vaccine pancreatic cancer pancreatic cancer va Source Type: blogs
FDA Wisely Permits Pharmacists to Prescribe Paxlovid
Jeffrey A. SingerWhen the Food and Drug Administration granted Emergency Use Authorization to the antiviral drugs Paxlovid and monupiravir in the beginning of this year, I co ‐authored anoped in the New York Daily News, along with Josh Bloom of the American Council on Science and Health, complaining about, among other things, the FDA ’s requirement that a patient who tests positive for COVID must get a prescription from a doctor, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant to obtain the drug. For the drugs to be effective they must be started within five days of the start of COVID symptoms. Not ev...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - July 7, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs
The New Buzz: These Are The Top Examples Of Digital Therapeutics
Digital Therapeutics or DTx in short is one of the latest buzzwords in the digital health ecosystem. Unlike others (NFT, Metaverse just to name a few) however, we see DTx as a meaningful trend that has the capacity to bring short-term, substantial improvements in personalised healthcare.
What is Digital Therapeutics?
The definition by the Digital Therapeutics Alliance, the main professional hub is:
“Digital therapeutics (DTx) deliver evidence-based therapeutic interventions that are driven by high-quality software programs to prevent, manage, or treat a medical disorder or disease. They are used inde...
Source: The Medical Futurist - June 21, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: Andrea Koncz Tags: TMF Digital Health Research Future of Medicine Health Sensors & Trackers Telemedicine & Smartphones software chronic pain apps cancer care mental health DTx digital therapeutics eczema Atopic dermatitis sleep disorders Source Type: blogs
Paxlovid Paradox, Part 1: Trying to Outrun COVID-19
The dilemma is heart-rending. With COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations rising, the FDA approved two drugs—Paxlovid from Pfizer, and molnupiravir from Merck and Ridgeback—to treat the illness that is killing so many and rendering others permanently disabled. Yet in the United States, many patients can’t get the drug, or even figure out which pharmacy near them […] (Source: EMR and HIPAA)
Source: EMR and HIPAA - May 25, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: Andy Oram Tags: Communication and Patient Experience Healthcare IT ASPR COVID-19 Data Interoperability Data Sharing Dr. Richard Dion Dr. Steve Mok Information Blocking molnupiravir Paxlovid Telehealth Telemedicine Wolters Kluwer Source Type: blogs
