Supply Chain

Much attention has focused on the "patent cliff" faced by pharmaceutical companies. There is another patent cliff approaching that has not yet received much attention -- the end of patent protection for many minimally invasive surgery devices.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services intends to finalize the Medicaid Federal Upper payment Limits (FULs) for multiple source drugs in July 2014. This will mean less drug price variance for state Medicaid programs.

Did you know that ultrasound, as a nonradiation modality, is expected to see an overall increase in reimbursement? Although there are some areas where threats of lower reimbursements are serious, overall, there will be incentives to utilize ultrasound where it is clinically warranted.

The hospital CFO's role has expanded thanks to healthcare reform, including taking a more hands-on approach to supply chain management.

The big news in the doctor world during the past few weeks has been the new guidelines for statin medications. The pharmaceutical companies have expanded the definition of disease to label more people as diseased.

Global spending on medicines is predicted to grow slowly in the next five years, with growth in developed countries much slower than in emerging markets.

For years, hospitals have been trying to discover new strategies for getting greater efficiencies out of their supply chains. Here are some current trends.

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Medical device maker Stryker Corp. will pay $13.3 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle civil charges that the company bribed physicians, healthcare professionals and government officials to obtain or keep business in five countries.

America has a major drug problem, but it's not the one that probably comes immediately to mind. It is a continual and rotating shortage of important drugs.