Information Technology
Hospital Authority OKs $50 million e-record project | Valdosta (Ga.) Daily TimesSouth Georgia Medical Center in Valdosta will switch from a McKesson electronic health record system to Epic in a move that is expected to take two years to implement and cost the hospital $50 million over the next five years. The current system is nearly 20 years old, according to the hospital's CEO.
Florida expands telemedicine controlled substance prescribing | National Law Review
The Florida Board of Medicine recently met and voted to uphold a rule allowing controlled substances to be prescribed via telemedicine for the treatment of psychiatric disorders. This change has enormous potential to benefit patients in the Sunshine State, promoting access to mental health services and receiving the full scope of psychiatric treatment.
N.C. Blues complaints top 1,400 as software problems continue | (Raleigh, N.C.) News and Observer
Technology issues at Blue Cross and Blue Shield continue piling up as the North Carolina Department of Insurance disclosed last week that the Chapel Hill insurer's website was not listing area behavioral health resources for one of its popular health plans.
Pharmaceuticals
Big pharma's delicate dance on drug prices | Wall Street JournalMerck CEO Kenneth Frazier discusses the recent uptick in new drug development and approval, the drug pricing criticism leveled at the industry, and changes in the drug development pipeline. Frazier, who is also chairman of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the industry lobbying group, says drugmakers may need to take another look at their approach to pricing and increases.
Lawmaker seeks moratorium on consumer drug ads | STAT
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) has introduced legislation calling for a three-year moratorium on direct-to-consumer drug advertising in an effort to control rising healthcare costs and prevent consumers from receiving inaccurate information. The bill, called the Responsibility in Drug Advertising Act, would also extend the ban after the three-year period for any drugs HHS determined had significant side-effects based on a review of studies.
China research highlights country's excess use of antibiotics | Reuters
A new study conducted by researchers from Shanghai's Fudan University found that 80% of children tested had traces of at least one type of 21 common antibiotics in their system. Overuse of antibiotics in the country is rampant, experts say. The World Health Organization says Chinese physicians prescribe antibiotics to half of outpatients.
Safety, Quality and Clinical Practice
HPV sharply reduced in teenage girls following vaccine, study says | New York TimesThe human papillomavirus vaccine, introduced ten years ago to combat strains of HPV which cause cervical and other cancers and genital warts, has lowered infection rates among teenage girls by 64% and among young women in their 20s by more than a third. Experts hope the success will boost vaccination rates for teen girls and boys, for whom current rates hover around 40% and 20%, respectively.
Urging openness about suberbug infections, doctor omits cases in own hospital | Kaiser Health News
When news broke that hospitals across the country were experiencing superbug outbreaks tied to the use of medical scopes, Dr. Jeffrey Tokar, director of gastrointestinal endoscopy at Fox Chase Medical Center in Philadelpia, wrote in the Annals of Internal Medicine about preventing and controlling such outbreaks, and urged medical centers to be transparent with patients about the efforts they were taking to ensure patient safety. But he failed to mention the possible infection of three patients in his own hospital.
