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The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) has launched a mobile application that records patient data on smartphones or tablets and sends that information to a customizable dashboard.

Hospital pharmacists are taking a greater role in patient care, performing more medication-related patient transition-of-care (TOC) interventions, 24/7 medication order review, and medication counseling, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists’ National Survey of Pharmacy Practice in Hospital Settings: Dispensing and Administration-2014.

One way that the government targets fraud and abuse in Medicare Part D is by identifying areas where its payments per beneficiary for certain drugs are significantly higher than the average payments nationwide.

At the White House Conference on Aging, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) proposed new rules to improve the care of approximately 1.5 million elderly who reside in more than 15,000 long-term care (LTC) facilities nationwide. If finalized, a pharmacist will review a resident's chart at least every 6 months.

As specialty meds pour out of the pipeline, pharmacists knowledgeable in disease states and side effects stand ready to manage administration and patient monitoring.

Last month, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) approved a policy that calls for adequate pharmacist representation on state boards of pharmacy by pharmacists from various practice settings, including hospitals, health systems, clinics, and nontraditional settings, to ensure proper oversight to protect public health.

Patients hospitalized for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at high risk for 30- and 60-day readmissions. In 2008, the mean 60-day admission rate following an emergency department visit of COPD patients was 18% and the mean readmission rate was more than 30%.

As sponsor of The Skin Cancer Foundation’s Road to Healthy Skin Tour, Rite Aid will offer free skin cancer screenings at locations in Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia this summer.

FDA approved sacubitril/valsartan (Entresto, Novartis), an angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitor (ARNI), a first-in-class drug for heart failure. It is indicated for patients whose condition is classified NYHA class II-IV, to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death and heart failure hospitalization.