Pharmacy

Hospitals, contract pharmacies and others make significant revenue from 340B, but the concern is whether patients benefit.

The amount is based on Walgreens' ability to pay, and if sold, the company would owe an additional $50M, DOJ says.

PBMs take advantage of a lax regulatory environment to inflate drug prices, Sanders says.

PhRMA has argued that the Inflation Reduction Act quashed innovation for drugs commonly taken in pill form.

Artificial intelligence is picking up where behavioral health via telehealth left off during the COVID-19 pandemic in mitigating staffing shortages by handling administrative tasks, medication management and even doing triage to assess the patient, says Dr. Colin Banas, DrFirst's chief medical officer.

The goal of the new fellowship is to educate pharmacists on preventing medication errors.

Walgreens was accused of engaging in a "systematic and routine waiver of patient copayments."

The PBM says the payment model more closely aligns with the costs pharmacies often face due to "manufacturer pricing actions."

A substantial price reduction would be needed to make the medications more cost effective, the report finds.

Initiative will eliminate up to 25% of all reauthorizations, or 10% of overall prior authorizations, PBM says.