Supply Chain

Integrated healthcare delivery and financing company UPMC is taking steps to thwart wasteful spending and high costs in forming an independent company called Pensiamo, which aims to help hospitals improve supply chain performance with a source-to-pay offering, including cognitive analytics with IBM Watson Health Technologies.

While the legacy skin test is cheaper in terms of materials, it requires more staff time, and a greater commitment on the part of the patient.

The new rates, initiated on January 1, are being fully implemented on July 1, CMS said.

Boosting support for prescription drug monitoring programs, and establishing a consistent funding source, is strongly related to a reduction in opioid-related overdose deaths, says a new study from Health Affairs.

This prototype machine produces 1,000 pills in 24 hours, faster than it can take to produce some batches in a factory. Allan Myerson, a professor of chemical engineering at MIT and a leader of the effort, says it could become eventually an option for anyone who makes medications, which typically require a lengthy and complex process of crystallization.

While surgical screws or sponges can cost a hospital less than a penny each, when a surgeon accentially leaves one of these behind in a patient's body the mistake can cost both patientsa and healthcare providers dearly.

A new study by the CVS Health Research Institute found that home infusion care is safe, clinically effective and improves quality of life; and when it's compared to infusion care delivered in a hospital or clinic, it may also reduce healthcare costs.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has made public a "lightly redacted" copy of the letter it sent to beleaguered blood-testing company Theranos on March 18, with newly revealed allegations that its proprietary testing devices often failed to meet the company's own accuracy requirements for certain tests -- in one instance, failing to accurately detect prostate cancer.

Transparency in how drug companies set pricing is needed to reform the pharmaceuticals industry, The Campaign for Sustainable Drug Pricing claims in a new series of proposals aimed at making the prescription drug marketplace more open and competitive.

At Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Health System, achieving scale meant creating a system-wide supply chain infrastructure rather than allowing each facility to oversee its own device purchasing.