Drug Formulary Review Archives – February 1, 2008
February 1, 2008
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Study finds daptomycin outperforms vancomycin
Research conducted at the Detroit Medical Center found that Cubist Pharmaceuticals' daptomycin for injection (Cubicin®) outperformed vancomycin in resolving the signs and symptoms of complicated skin and skin structure infections. -
Medication management help HMO diabetes patients
When pharmacists run diabetes management programs for HMO patients, the patients have better health outcomes than patients who are only monitored for long-term blood sugar control. That's the takeaway from a nine-month study that evaluated the effect of such pharmacist-run diabetes management programs. -
FDA urged to promote hospital RFID
InfoLogix CEO David Guilan says FDA should be involved in encouraging hospitals to adopt barcode and radio frequency identification (RFID) solutions to help prevent medication mix-ups such as occurred with actor Dennis Quaid's children at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. -
Permanent CPT codes approved for MTM services
The Pharmacist Services Technical Advisory Coalition (PSTAC) has obtained approval for permanent CPT codes for billing pharmacists' medication therapy management (MTM) services. -
Size matters — but not for clinical services
Further proof of the importance of clinical services to hospital pharmacist care comes in research from the University of Illinois that found that clinical services remain essentially the same no matter how big a hospital is, even when there are differences based on hospital size on a number of workload and productivity measures. -
News Briefs
The American Society of Health-system Pharmacists (ASHP) says it has intensified its fight against what it sees as a costly and burdensome requirement that hospital outpatient departments report National Drug Code (NDC) numbers. -
Drug Criteria & Outcomes: Antifungal agents: A bad reputation for drug interactions
Advances in drug therapy over the last few decades have revolutionized the management of many common disease states.