Pharmacy news

• Action Steps for Reimbursement Readiness

  06-07-2026 17:38
  Bonnie Kirschenbaum, MS, FASHP,FCSHP“Reimbursement Matters” is a tool for maintaining your health system’s fiscal health. Please email the author at [email protected] with suggestions on reimbursement issues that you would like to see covered.Financial stability remains a critical concern as healthcare organizations navigate 2026 and prepare for fiscal year (FY) 2027, which begins Oct. 1, 2026, for inpatient settings. Calendar year 2027 follows for all other sites of
  
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• Rethinking Inpatient IV Default for PWID With Serious Injection-Related Infections

  08-07-2026 18:28
  By Gina ShawPatient-directed discharge without an oral antibiotic doubles 90-day readmission risk among people who inject drugs (PWID) with serious injection-related infections, Ellen Eaton, MD, MSPH, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, told attendees at the newly combined Making a Difference in Infectious Diseases and Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists 2026 meeting, in Orlando, Florida.figure { display:inline-block; margin
  
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• ASHP Futures 2026: Tips for Hazardous Drug Wipe Sampling

  08-07-2026 11:27
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• Pediatric Iron Deficiency: New Ferritin Thresholds, and a Wider Role for Pharmacy

  07-07-2026 18:26
  figure { display:inline-block; margin:0.5em; border:thin silver solid; padding:0.5em; font-size:smaller; text-indent:0; }figure img { max-width:100%; height:auto; width:auto; display:block; }figcaption { padding:5px; background:transparent; word-wrap:normal; text-align:center; font-size:10px; line-height:12px; }.figure-wrapper { text-align:center; }vector juice – stock.adobe.com.By Gina ShawPediatric iron deficiency is being redefined, with significant practical implications for clinicians
  
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• IV Iron During Acute Infection Linked to Lower Mortality, Real-World Analysis Finds

  07-07-2026 18:21
  figure { display:inline-block; margin:0.5em; border:thin silver solid; padding:0.5em; font-size:smaller; text-indent:0; }figure img { max-width:100%; height:auto; width:auto; display:block; }figcaption { padding:5px; background:transparent; word-wrap:normal; text-align:center; font-size:10px; line-height:12px; }.figure-wrapper { text-align:center; }Iron IV: anna – stock.adobe.com.By Gina ShawHospitalized adults with iron deficiency anemia (IDA) and an acute bacterial infection who received
  
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• Emerging Therapies For Blood Cancers

  02-07-2026 19:03
  Christie Denton, PharmD, BCPSClinical Assistant Professor/Drug Information SpecialistUniversity of Illinois at Chicago College of PharmacyLeukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma, the 3 main types of blood cancers, account for about 10% of new cancer diagnoses each year.1 In 2024, 187,740 new cases of leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma were estimated to be diagnosed, with approximately 57,260 deaths expected. Advances in treatment for blood cancers have led to guideline updates, expanded indications for sev
  
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• ASHP Futures 2025: Medication Safety in the AI Era

  30-06-2026 12:53
  Drs. Sylvia Stoffella and Ben Michaels discuss the potential of their AI pilot project to improve patient safety and assist workflows. 
  
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• A Plague on Patient Assistance

  23-06-2026 13:47
  Originally published by our sister publication Specialty Pharmacy ContinuumBy Gina ShawAutumn Zuckerman,PharmDA 34-year-old man with stage IV colorectal cancer was responding to treatment when his insurer abruptly stopped covering his medication. What followed consumed five months, required him to obtain a passport, submit to a telehealth visit with a foreign physician he had never met, and ultimately receive his medication from an international pharmacy.The specialty pharmacy team spent roughly
  
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• Decnupaz Approved for Blastic Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Neoplasms

  23-06-2026 13:44
  Originally published by our sister publication Clinical Oncology NewsBy Natasha Albaneze, MPHA new treatment option, pivekimab sunirine-pvzy (Decnupaz, AbbVie), has been approved for blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm, a rare type of hematologic malignancy.figure { display:inline-block; margin:0.5em; border:thin silver solid; padding:0.5em; font-size:smaller; text-indent:0; }figure img { max-width:100%; height:auto; width:auto; display:block; }figcaption { padding:5px; background:trans
  
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• ASHP Futures 2026: Proactive Tools to Modernize Medication Safety

  22-06-2026 11:28
  Dr. Sondra May shares key insights from the 2026 ASHP Pharmacy Forecast and details how shifting from reactive event tracking to a proactive system design will positively impact patient safety. 
  
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• As Manufacturers Catch On to Alternative Funding Programs, More Specialty Patients Routed to Overseas Pharmacies

  18-06-2026 13:39
  figure { display:inline-block; margin:0.5em; border:thin silver solid; padding:0.5em; font-size:smaller; text-indent:0; }figure img { max-width:100%; height:auto; width:auto; display:block; }figcaption { padding:5px; background:transparent; word-wrap:normal; text-align:center; font-size:10px; line-height:12px; }.figure-wrapper { text-align:center; }McMahon PublishingMore drug manufacturers are identifying and rejecting alternative funding program (AFP) applications, pushing commerically insured
  
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• Ambulatory Care Pharmacists Drive Higher Specialty Prescription Capture

  18-06-2026 13:37
  figure { display:inline-block; margin:0.5em; border:thin silver solid; padding:0.5em; font-size:smaller; text-indent:0; }figure img { max-width:100%; height:auto; width:auto; display:block; }figcaption { padding:5px; background:transparent; word-wrap:normal; text-align:center; font-size:10px; line-height:12px; }.figure-wrapper { text-align:center; }pikselstock-stock.adobe.comBy Gina ShawAmbulatory care pharmacists at Yale New Haven Health (YNHH) kept two-thirds of the specialty prescriptions the
  
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• ASHP Calls on HHS to Halt Lilly’s 340B Data Cutoff

  18-06-2026 12:01
  Editor's note: Updated 6/18 to reflect cut-off date not yet enacted, plus new comments from Jesse Dresser, Esq., of Frier LevittBy Gina ShawIn early June, Eli Lilly gave an initial group of 340B hospitals five business days to turn over detailed claims-level data or lose access to discounted drug pricing, and ASHP is urging federal regulators to step in before the deadline hit.As of mid-June, the threatened cutoff had not taken effect for many of the covered entities that received the notice, ev
  
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• ASHP Futures 2026: Recognizing Progress in Precepting

  18-06-2026 11:21
  This year at ASHP Futures, Dr. Ted Morton received the ASHP Foundation 2025 Pharmacy Residency Excellence Preceptor Award for his over-three decade career in progressing the evolution of pharmacy precepting practices. In this interview with PPN, Dr. Morton discusses what the recognition means to him and shares some of the important lessons and tips he’s learned on how to effectively improve pharmacy residency precepting and training programs. 
  
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• Revenue Is Critical! Dispel Those Knowledge Gaps!

  18-06-2026 10:34
  Bonnie Kirschenbaum, MS, FASHP,FCSHP“Reimbursement Matters” is a tool for maintaining your health system’s fiscal health. Please email the author at [email protected] with suggestions on reimbursement issues that you would like to see covered.The Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984 (also known as the Hatch-Waxman Amendments) added sections 505(b)(2) and 505(j) to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act), establishing abbrevia
  
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• Pharmacist Interventions at 14 Specialty Pharmacies Avoided $3.6 Million in Costs in 6 Months

  16-06-2026 19:00
  figure { display:inline-block; margin:0.5em; border:thin silver solid; padding:0.5em; font-size:smaller; text-indent:0; }figure img { max-width:100%; height:auto; width:auto; display:block; }figcaption { padding:5px; background:transparent; word-wrap:normal; text-align:center; font-size:10px; line-height:12px; }.figure-wrapper { text-align:center; }McMahon PublishingBy Gina ShawPharmacist interventions at 14 health-system specialty pharmacies avoided an estimated $3.6 million in direct medicatio
  
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• Three-Fourths of Hospital Pharmacies Asked to Reduce Expenses, ASHP Survey Finds

  16-06-2026 18:05
  figure { display:inline-block; margin:0.5em; border:thin silver solid; padding:0.5em; font-size:smaller; text-indent:0; }figure img { max-width:100%; height:auto; width:auto; display:block; }figcaption { padding:5px; background:transparent; word-wrap:normal; text-align:center; font-size:10px; line-height:12px; }.figure-wrapper { text-align:center; }tang90246, stock.adobe.com.By Gina ShawThree-fourths of hospital pharmacy departments have been asked to reduce expenses, and many are trimming staff
  
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• Always Audit-Ready: AI Takes On 340B Compliance

  16-06-2026 15:26
  figure { display:inline-block; margin:0.5em; border:thin silver solid; padding:0.5em; font-size:smaller; text-indent:0; }figure img { max-width:100%; height:auto; width:auto; display:block; }figcaption { padding:5px; background:transparent; word-wrap:normal; text-align:center; font-size:10px; line-height:12px; }.figure-wrapper { text-align:center; }Pixels Hunter, OrangRobot - stock.adobe.comBy Gina ShawA small 340B Drug Pricing Program compliance team can audit every claim instead of a 10% sampl
  
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• AI Cuts Prior Authorization Review Times in Half

  16-06-2026 12:16
  figure { display:inline-block; margin:0.5em; border:thin silver solid; padding:0.5em; font-size:smaller; text-indent:0; }figure img { max-width:100%; height:auto; width:auto; display:block; }figcaption { padding:5px; background:transparent; word-wrap:normal; text-align:center; font-size:10px; line-height:12px; }.figure-wrapper { text-align:center; }Toowongsa - stock.adobe.com.By Gina ShawAn artificial intelligence tool that drafts prior authorization answers from the medical record cut PA review
  
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• HOPA 2026: New Trends in Oncology Pharmacy

  12-06-2026 12:30
  Dr. Lisa Holle explains what all is new and trending in oncology pharmacy today, including the introduction of new therapiessuch as CAR-T and associated workflow dilemmas. 
  
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• Cold Chain Validation Is Breaking Down in the Real World

  12-06-2026 12:00
  Originally published by our sister publication Specialty Pharmacy ContinuumBy Gina ShawPass the chamber test, print the qualification documents, and consider yourself compliant. That is how many specialty pharmacies approach cold chain validation, and according to cold chain experts, that’s also precisely why temperature excursions, flash freezing, and compromised medications keep happening.“What happens in the chamber is not [the] real world,” said Lawrence Zaiter, the vice pr
  
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• Patients Show Strong Preference for New Subcutaneous Ocrelizumab Formulation: UVA Study

  12-06-2026 11:59
  Originally published by our sister publication Specialty Pharmacy ContinuumBy Gina ShawOcrelizumab-hyaluronidase-ocsq (Ocrevus Zunovo, Genentech), the recently approved subcutaneous formulation of the multiple sclerosis (MS) drug ocrelizumab, is strongly preferred by patients over the standard ocrelizumab infusion, according to new data.Researchers from UVA Health implemented a pharmacy-led, clinic-based protocol for ocrelizumab-hyaluronidase-ocsq, which was approved by the FDA in September 2024
  
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• Micafungin Dosing in Obese Candidemia Patients Shows Variability of Treatment

  12-06-2026 11:43
  Originally published by our sister publication Infectious Disease Special EditionBy Gina ShawStandard-dose micafungin produced clinical outcomes comparable to high-dose micafungin in patients with obesity and candidemia at a Brooklyn community teaching hospital, according to a retrospective cohort study presented at the newly combined Making a Difference in Infectious Diseases (MAD-ID) and Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists (SIDP) 2026 annual meeting, in Orlando, Florida.figure { display
  
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• 6 Tips to Protect Your Health System From Drug Shortages

  12-06-2026 11:43
  By Karen Blum Eric Tichy, PharmDHealth-system pharmacies can engage in best practices to mitigate the effects of drug shortages, better manage medication supply, and ensure stability, a leading supply chain expert noted at the ASHP Midyear 2025 Clinical Meeting & Exhibition, in Las Vegas.When all individuals act in their own best interest during shortages—a situation known as the “prisoner’s dilemma”—they may try to stock up on drugs in shortage, said Eric Tichy
  
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• Higher Dalbavancin Exposure Linked to Clinical Success in Complicated S. aureus Bacteremia: A Case for a Third Dose?

  11-06-2026 19:12
  By Gina ShawSome patients with complicated Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia may benefit from a third dose of dalbavancin (Dalvance, AbbVie) beyond the standard two-dose regimen, given either empirically or guided by therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM), said Thomas L. Holland, MD, a professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Duke University, in Durham, North Carolina, in a presentation at the newly combined Making a Difference in Infectious Diseases and Society of Infectious Di
  
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• New Study Tracks S. aureus Colonization in General Medicine Wards

  11-06-2026 18:39
  Originally published by our sister publication Infectious Disease Special EditionThis article was updated on 6/5/2026.By Karen BlumStaphylococcus aureus colonization may be common among hospitalized adults in general medical wards, according to a small study presented at ASM Microbe 2026, in Washington, D.C.figure { display:inline-block; margin:0.5em; border:thin silver solid; padding:0.5em; font-size:smaller; text-indent:0; }figure img { max-width:100%; height:auto; width:auto; display:block; }
  
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• Diversion Software Success Hinges On Trust, Workflow, and Follow-Through

  11-06-2026 18:29
  By Gina ShawDrug diversion software implementations often stall because of predictable human and workflow challenges that go unaddressed, not technical shortcomings, according to pharmacy leaders at both a small, independent community setting and an academic health system.Thomas Latuga, PharmD, MHA, BCPS, described his hospital’s experience implementing drug diversion software at the ASHP Midyear 2025 Clinical Meeting & Exhibition, in Las Vegas. Dr. Latuga, the director of pharmacy at
  
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• ChatGPT Misses the Mark in Complex Cases

  11-06-2026 13:34
  By Marcus A. BanksThe artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT often misses medication-related problems (MRPs) or flags nonexistent issues, suggesting that AI cannot replace professional judgment or structured training in pharmacy education, according to research presented at the ASHP Midyear 2025 Clinical Meeting & Exhibition, in Las Vegas (poster 4-045).ChatGPT is not adept at spotting drug–drug interactions, noted Stephanie Conway-Allen, PharmD, an associate professor of pharmacy practi
  
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• Intravenous Immunoglobulin In Solid-Organ Transplantation

  10-06-2026 19:29
  Amy E. Clarke, DNP, RN, IgCN®Chief Clinical OfficerImmunoglobulin National SocietyCalabasas, CaliforniaLuba Sobolevsky, PharmD, IgCP®President and CEOImmunoglobulin National SocietyCalabasas, CaliforniaThe survival of kidney and lung allografts continues to be threatened by sensitization, donor-specific antibody (DSA) formation, and antibody-mediated rejection (AMR). Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) has been incorporated into 3 major clinical contexts central to transplant medicine: des
  
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• PBM–Pharmacy Collaboration Improves Medicaid Outcomes

  10-06-2026 19:27
  Originally published by our sister publication Specialty Pharmacy ContinuumBy Gina ShawA pharmacy benefit manager (PBM)–community pharmacy collaboration focused on expanding access to care for Medicaid members with chronic conditions significantly improved patient outcomes, increasing medication adherence by 6 to 11 percentage points across almost all drug categories after program participation, according to a new report from the Elevance Health Public Policy Institute.Patients engaged in
  
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