Pain Management

Once limited to filling and dispensing drugs, pharmacists are increasingly providing direct care to patients. Across the country, they are working with doctors to give immunizations and help patients safely manage medications.

The coming year will be one for those who have beaten cancer to develop survivorship plans, with the Commission on Cancer to require planning by treatment centers starting in 2015.

One of the central features of a value-based system is a financial "stick." If patients insist on medical procedures that science shows to be ineffective or unnecessary, they'll have to pay for all or most of the cost.

Palliative care adapted to specific high-risk patients' needs can reduce emergency room visits, improve overall care and drive down healthcare costs, but the current policy and practice framework presents numerous obstacles to its implementation.

Reigning in costs is a key component of healthcare reform. So it is clear why it will be essential for both providers and policy makers to identify those most at risk for driving up costs.

A study of Aetna patients taking pain medication showed that those who displayed problematic behavior cost the healthcare system more money than a cost control group, even if there was not a diagnosis of addiction.

Patients using mail order pharmacies have lower healthcare utilization, but somewhat less laboratory monitoring of persistent medications and slightly higher contraindicated medication use.

Supporters of a soon-to-be law that creates an optional new class of FDA-certified compounding pharmacies are cautiously optimistic newly passed legislation will prevent future public health crisis.

A large proportion of opioid analgesic treated chronic pain patients exhibited behaviors indicative of potentially problematic opioid use, which significantly affected healthcare costs.

Margaret K. Pasquale, PhD, principal researcher, Comprehensive Health Insights at Humana, says Humana's predictive model of opioid abuse suggests that there are a few factors that might lend people to be at high risk for opioid abuse

The Food and Drug Administration is recommending new restrictions on prescription medicines containing hydrocodone, the highly addictive painkiller that has grown into the most widely prescribed drug in the U.S.

This study identified inefficiencies in drug and medical service utilization related to pain management among Medicare members with osteoarthritis and chronic low back pain.

Connecticut seniors on Medicare are more likely to take sedatives for insomnia and medications for depression than their counterparts across the country, according to a new report by Dartmouth researchers.

The cost to treat rare disease can be extraordinary.

A few weeks ago, Novo Nordisk ($NVO) said it had lost Express Scripts' business on two of its top drugs, Victoza and NovoLog. Well, that was just part of the action at the pharmacy benefits manager.

We present a descriptive analysis utilizing pharmacy claims from a managed care population to quantify adherence, persistence, and switching patterns for patients initiating dabigatran.

We conducted a randomized controlled trial to assess whether adding a peer testimonial to a mailing increases conversion rates from brand name prescription medications to lower-cost equivalents.

Roger B. Fillingim, PhD, president of the American Pain Society is one advocate speaking out about the problem faced by patients who suffer from chronic pain, defined as being present for 3-months or more. But he's not the only expert who is talking about finding better ways to help people in pain.

A quarter of opioid recipients with commercial insurance had at least 1 indicator of potential misuse by patients or inappropriate prescription practices by providers.

Pharmacists should solidify their place within the patient-centered medical home. Here is an early model that achieves better health outcomes through comprehensive medical management and a team-based approach.

A new analysis from HealthPocket of Medicare drug plans reveals that in both traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans, consumers face various hurdles in accessing their medications.

In an effort to offset cost increases associated with the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Obama administration intends to expand hospitals' access of the 340B discount drug plan. While the expansion may sound promising to some, many others worry that the program will threaten the quality of care, as increased participation risks higher potential for abuse. Even worse, the 340B program will likely rise the cost of cancer care.

It was the late C. Everett Koop, a former U.S. surgeon general, who once famously said: Drugs don't work in patients who don't take them. That's a simple way to look at a costly and complex problem - medication non-adherence - where the failure to take drugs on time in the dosages prescribed is both dangerous for patients and costly to the health care system.

Acutely ill patients are at high risk for pain, agitation and delirium (PAD), and recent evidence shows that implementing early assessment, prevention and detection protocols can reduce risk factors and improve patient outcomes.

Medication adherence service provider HealthPrize, run by former Yale Medical School professor and neurosurgeon Katrina Firlik and lawyer Tom Kottler, hopes to raise the bar for patients' medication adherence. HealthPrize web and mobile platforms will utilize various incentives and technology to award patients for proper adherence

The PILL Service is a care transition program designed to support older adults with cognitive impairment and help them maintain independent function. This program, which has resulted in improved clinical and economic outcomes, is characterized by a team effort focusing on proactive medication review and patient-centered medication reconciliation.