Pharmacy manager finally gets his chance

SPOKANE, Wash. - W.D. Evans finally got his wish. In 1999, he tried to buy Jones Pharmacy but got out bid by then high-flying roll-up Horizon Pharmacies, which has since filed for bankruptcy. Earlier this year, Evans and a partner bought Jones, which also provides DME, through the bankruptcy court. The $5 million business is a "cash cow" and remained profitable even through Horizon's tenure, according to Evans, who sees immediate growth potential for DME and closed-door pharmacy business. To help improve that potential, the RX began a $40,000 remodeling of the 10,000-square-foot location this spring. CMS laudes Horizon BCBS's DSM program NEWARK, N.J. - CMS has lauded the congestive heart failure DSM program of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey for exceeding two of its quality standards. While CMS has a threshold of 75% for the number of Medicare+Choice patients diagnosed with congestive heart failure who have regular echocardiograms, just over 94% of Horizon's patients have the test; and while the CMS threshold for the number of Medicare+Choice patients diagnosed with a dysfunctional left ventricle who are taking ACE inhibitor prescription medication is 80%, just over 88% of Horizon's patients take the medication. UOA, CMS to discuss new ostomy codes WASHINTON - The United Ostomy Association (UOA) was slated to meet with CMS the first of this month to discuss why the agency has asked its medical directors to take a second look at the new ostomy codes and fees. Linda Aukett, chairwoman of government affairs for the Irvine, Calif.-based UOA, said CMS would only meet with the association once it had "a new proposal in hand."