Compliance

Hospital readmissions within 30 days of discharge cost the Medicare program approximately $15 billion, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission. Laura Cranston, RPh, Executive Director, Pharmacy Quality Alliance Inc. (PQA) shares that the largest component of those costs are due to some medication-related adverse drug event, she explains. The priority of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is to reduce these costs, and effective medication reconciliation and ensuring appropriate care transitions can play a major role.

Rexam Pharmaceutical Packaging and Med Time Technology Inc. team up to provide pharmacists with an innovative way to remind customers to take their medication on time. The Pill Timer will soon be available as a result of an agreement between Med Time Technology and Rexam Plastics, the largest manufacturer of plastic prescription vials in the United States.

Formerly DGP Group, Intelsius completes its corporate rebranding efforts, which includes a new corporate identity, logo, and redesign of its flagship Web site. As part of the rebranding, Intelsius also announced the launch of Orcatherm, one of its most innovative packaging solutions to date.

WellCare Today LLC (Morristown, NJ) has released HealthAssist (sm), a medication adherence and health management application available on the iPhone and iPod Touch. The free application can be downloaded through the Apple apps store.

McKesson Corp. is announcing new solutions to help pharmaceutical manufacturers implement customized marketing strategies. Acording to the company, who is particiapting in the Retail Pharmacy Branded Pharmaceuticals Efficient Program Planning Session, can address awareness, launch, sales, adherence, and distribution goals at all stages of the product life cycle.

A larger-size, RFID-enabled cabinet launched by Terso Solutions Inc. (Madison, WI) provides customized storage space to protect and track high-value inventories for healthcare suppliers and providers. The newly launched smart cabinet is well-suited for operating room supply centers and catheterization labs, as well as other environments where high-value items need to be controlled at the point of use.

Abiomed Inc. (Danvers, MA) is using ControlPanelGRC, SymSoft Corp.’s (Milwaukee, WI) second-generation suite of modular, integrated GRC applications that address the major areas of compliance. Abiomed provides medical devices that provide circulatory support to acute heart failure patients. The company implemented ControlPanelGRC in just three days.

A&M Biomedical (Laguna Hills, CA) has received ISO 13485:2003 certification from the National Standards Authority of Ireland Inc. A&M Biomedical offers medical device outsourcing services with an emphasis on quality and regulatory compliance.