Drug Identifiers

drug identifiers best practices use ndc field or productcode field ✅ quality checks use ndc field or productcode field drug identifiers, which are numeric values used to represent a specific drug concept, can be communicated in two ways using the ncpdp script standard the ndc field or the productcode field the ndc field facilitates the transmission of the national drug code (ndc), while the productcode field can be used to transmit the rxnorm concept unique identifier (rxcui), which is created and maintained by the national library of medicine (nlm) a representative ndc is required to be included if the prescribed product is commercially available with a nationally recognized ndc a representative ndc is one of any 11 digit ndc codes belonging to the same product concept that is nationally available, not repackaged, not obsolete, not private label, and not unit dose (unless it is the only ndc available) a product concept describes a medication or non medication that has the same active ingredient, strength, route, dosage form, drug delivery system or packaging, and therapeutic use/indication for example, all fluoxetine 20 mg tablets have the same product concept, but fluoxetine 20 mg capsules have a different overarching product concept product concepts also have brand and generic distinctions a representative ndc is intended to supplement the “description” of an electronic communication message and is used to convey a product concept between disparate technology systems to facilitate automation best practices ensure the ndc semantically matches the product description note that the ndc is not intended to infer specificity or preference to the imbedded manufacturer/labeler for dispensing or administration purposes, nor is it intended to indicate a substitution preference when the representative ndc does not match to the description, there is a potential patient safety concern if the pharmacy dispenses the incorrect medication based on the ndc at minimum, this mismatch results in workflow disruptions because the pharmacy staff has to manually correct the system selected medication based on its description newrx description example of representative ndc examples of what not to send ndc ndc description reason glumetza 500 mg extended release tablet 680120002xx 681800338xx metformin 500 mg extended release film coated tablet brand vs generic mismatch levothroid 100 mcg oral tablet 004561323xx 000746624xx synthroid 0 1 mg oral tablet brand vs brand mismatch methylprednisolone 4 mg tablet dose pack 007815022xx 597623327xx methylprednisolone 4 mg oral tablet different package/unit of use metoprolol tartrate 50 mg tablet 000930733xx 003784598xx metoprolol succinate 50 mg extended release oral tablet different product ensure drug description matches the drug identifiers ✅ quality checks drug description matches the drug identifiers ensure the drug identifier(s) used in conjunction with the drug description conceptually match the product written ensure the epn makes a clear brand/generic distinction, thus the representative ndc and/or rxnorm cui and term type also match clinical relevance/rationale the drug identifiers, when used in conjunction with the drug description, ensures accurate communication of the prescriber’s intent regarding the product to be dispensed if the drug identifier does not exactly match the drug product and the full details in the drug description, the pharmacy may be required to contact the prescriber for clarification, thereby disrupting pharmacy/prescriber workflows and may cause a delay in patient care best practices for technology partners when an rxnorm value is transmitted, it is essential that the value correspond with both the drug description and ndc transmitted in the e prescription message if an rxnorm concept exists, transmit the rxcui/term type and the compendia recommended epn if an rxnorm concept does not exist, associate the ndc that relates to the compendia recommended epn regularly (at least once a month) update drug database(s) to consistently send correct and up to date ndc and rxcui numbers, and ensure that no obsolete, repackaged, private label or unit dose ndcs are sent limit end users to using only pre formatted drug description strings provided by the application if the application allows the end user to modify any part of the pre formatted drug description, then employ a system check to ensure correct correspondence of the numerical code and drug description example a prescriber prescribes a brand medication, levoxyl 88 mcg tablet the drug identifier the prescriber’s system transmits would therefore include a representative ndc 60793085301, which is associated with the levoxyl 0 088 mg tablet and the rxnorm rxcui 966175 in addition, the term type sbd is also associated with the brand levoxyl 88mcg