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ATLANTA — The annual ritual of visiting a doctor's office or health clinic to receive a flu shot may soon be outdated, thanks to the findings of a new study published in the journal Vaccine.

ATLANTA — The Drug Enforcement Administration's Atlanta Field Division last week announced the launch of an anonymous statewide prescription drug texting tip line available to the public. 

WASHINGTON — As part of the National Governors Association’s ongoing effort to help states reduce prescription drug abuse, findings from the Prescription Drug Abuse Reduction Policy Academy were the focus of the Health and Human Services Committee session at NGA’s 2014 Winter Meeting, the association announced Sunday. 

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — SpartanNash on Tuesday announced the formation of a partnership to offer a comprehensive mobile and web pharmacy solution to SpartanNash customers. The mobile solution, powered by mscripts, will enable SpartanNash customers to refill prescriptions, receive pickup and dosage reminders, and manage accounts for their family members. 

SpartanNash operates 88 pharmacies in six states throughout the upper Midwest.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Healtheway on Monday announced the formation of Carequality, a new initiative dedicated to accelerating progress in health data exchange among multiplatform networks, healthcare providers, electronic health record vendors and health information exchange vendors. Carequality is an open, transparent and inclusive industry-driven effort. It will convene stakeholders and facilitate industry consensus to develop and maintain a standards-based interoperability framework that enables information exchange between and among networks.

ATLANTA — It appears this year's flu season will officially wind down toward the beginning of March. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday reported a decline in influenza activity, though nationwide it's still above the national baseline. 

No states reported high influenza like illness activity, the CDC noted, and seven states experienced moderate ILI activity (Arkansas, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, New Mexico, Texas and Virginia).

LONDON — Concurrent opioid prescribing by multiple providers is common in Medicare patients and is associated with higher rates of hospital admission related to opioid use, according to a study published last week in BMJ. 

ATLANTA — Only one-third of adults between the ages of 18 and 64 have gotten their flu shot this season, which is a contributing factor to why this year's flu activity has hit young adults particularly hard, according to Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.