Diabetes

PHILADELPHIA — UnitedHealth Group is looking to evaluate the effectiveness of using video-on-demand programming to deliver its Diabetes Prevention Program.

The insurance company has tapped Comcast to find participants for the study, which will be test marketed in Philadelphia, and Knoxville, Tenn. Enrollment began on Feb. 13; the first VOD programming will be available Feb. 27.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Sam's Club is taking its promotion of health-and-wellness solutions further by launching its own branded, bimonthly magazine.

Sam' Club said its 8-million member circulation magazine, Healthy Living Made Simple, is the first warehouse club publication solely dedicated to health-and-wellness issues. Topics covered by the publication include items related to personal, child and pet health. Future issues will spotlight local Sam’s Club pharmacists, optometrists and associates, as well as members’ stories, Sam's Club said.

WASHINGTON — The National Community Pharmacists Association last week sent a follow-up letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services asking the agency to revisit a decision last month that effectively requires some pharmacies to pay duplicative fee-for-service Medicare enrollment/revalidation fees, according to the association.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — Drugs widely used to treat cholesterol may cause increases in blood sugar and other symptoms, the Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a drug for a rare disorder that previously had no approved medical therapies, the agency said.

The FDA announced the approval of Menlo Park, Calif.-based Corcept Therapeutics' Korlym (mifepristone) for endogenous Cushing's syndrome, a disorder that results from overproduction of cortisol, a steroid hormone that increases blood-sugar levels.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — Physicians in 35% of cases involving more than 250,000 newly diagnosed diabetes patients did not follow the American Diabetes Association/European Association for the Study of Diabetes consensus guidelines for recommended treatment, according to a new CVS Caremark study.

LAS VEGAS — Allscripts and MyCareTeam have teamed up to launch an integrated diabetes management system, the companies announced at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society's annual conference and exhibition.

BOSTON — Joslin Diabetes Center and American Well will collaborate on a telehealth initiative that seeks to improve and expand diabetes patients' access to high-quality care.

The telehealth services will be powered by American Well's Online Care technology and will "[apply] a transformative healthcare innovation in support of our mission of improving the lives of people struggling with this disease," Joslin Diabetes Center president and CEO John Brooks said.