Practice Management News

Experts from leading U.S. health organizations deemed physician burnout “a public health crisis” in a recent report.

The FDA has, for the first time, proactively developed and tested a product label to encourage development of an over-the-counter version of the opioid overdose antidote naloxone, according to an agency statement.

Residents of the most rural locations in the United States were nearly 90% more likely to receive an opioid prescription than residents of large central metropolitan locations during a recent 3-year period, according to data recently published in MMWR.

Although a proposal by the HHS to shift certain prescription drugs from Medicare Part B to Part D may reduce total drug spending by 6.9% to 18.3%, it could also increase out-of-pocket costs for some Medicare beneficiaries, according to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

If Medicare Part D paid prices for prescription medications similar to what the Department of Veterans Affairs pays, there could be an estimated annual savings of 38% to 50%, according to an analysis published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

The Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force — an entity within HHS — recently issued a 91-page report detailing best practices on pain management and issued a request for public input on the report.

The pharmaceutical industry, in recent years, has been marked by a cycle of outrage from patient groups, insurers and politicians each time a particularly expensive new drug hits the market. The considerable ticket price attached to blockbuster newcomers inevitably draws a widespread public outcry, and, lingering in the media spotlight, are often cited as the most likely culprits driving the skyrocketing drug costs in the United States.

A recently developed app identified changes in breathing patterns that preceded likely opioid overdoses, as well as during an actual overdose, according to a report recently published in Science Translational Medicine.

Nearly one-quarter of all health system expenditure for chronic disease care was attributed to costs associated with comorbid conditions, above and beyond the projected cost of having the diseases separately, according to research published in PLOS Medicine.

Money spent on medical marketing greatly increased from 1997 through 2016, carried largely by a significant surge in direct-to-consumer advertising, which rose from $2.1 billion to $9.6 billion during that time, according to data published in JAMA.