New Study on Lowering Opioid Prescription Challenges
A new study on guidelines aimed at lowering opioid prescriptions to prevent addiction shows the potential success — and challenges — of changing prescribing habits, according to NPR.
Combating Opioid Overprescription
Though the U.S. Justice Department has used data analytics to comb through prescription and billing information to detect healthcare fraud for several years, its recent data-driven approach to tackling the opioid crisis may be its most successful yet.
CMS’s Price Transparency Initiatives for 2020
CMS released three proposed rules on July 29, which include payment updates for outpatient and physician services and expanded price transparency initiatives.
Medicare Appeals Backlog Reduced 20%
HHS is making progress on reducing the backlog of Medicare appeals at the administrative law judge level, according to a recent status report.
Privacy Issues with Patient Portals
It can be difficult to effectively document sensitive health information of pediatric patients and older adults whose family members have access to their patient portals without violating the patient’s privacy, according to a viewpoint article in AAP News and Journals.
Opioid Overdose Associated With Opioid Prescriptions to Relatives
A new study provides more evidence that America’s ongoing opioid epidemic was fueled by doctors prescribing more painkillers than patients needed — leading to what’s now the deadliest drug overdose crisis in US history.
Opioids Caused 66% of Drug Deaths Worldwide in 2017
Two-thirds of drug deaths around the world were caused by opioids in 2017, and that proportion was even higher in the U.S., where overdose deaths reached a new high, according to a report from the United Nations.
Inpatients Receiving Opioid Prescription Continue Usage After Discharge
The Trump administration seeks cut opioid prescription fills by 33 percent in three years through better education and adherence to pain-management …
Rising Drug Prices Immune to Market Forces
A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which examined prices for the 49 top-selling drugs between January 2012 and December 2017, found virtually all brands of drugs rose in price on a regular basis.
Medicare Plan Could Save $73 Billion
By using external reference pricing to match U.S. drug prices to those in Japan, the U.K. or Canada, Medicare could have saved nearly $73 billion in 2018 …