Medication Elements

1 min

Medication Elements

The following should be used for developing MedicationPrescribed, MedicationDispensed, MedicationRequested, and MedicationResponse elements.

Element Name	Codes	Comments
DrugDescription	mandatory	Drug name (when applicable, include the full drug name, strength, and form). For a compound, the names of the ingredients in the compound or the prescriber’s preferred name should be communicated here. See DrugDescription Best PracticesDrugDescription Best Practices section for more information. R.305: The drug name shall be an item that is currently available for dispensing. If there are active NDCs available, an inactive/obsolete NDC shall not be used. Customers are expected to work with their drug compendia vendor to satisfy this requirement. R.306: If the drug description for single medications as well as compounds exceeds the length of the DrugDescription field, the prescription shall not be sent electronically. R.307: When entering a prescription that has a free text DrugDescription and the prescription contains a controlled substance, EPCS requirements shall be followed. For Quality Check information on DrugDescription, see DrugDescription Best PracticesDrugDescription Best Practices
Product	mandatory	Within the Product element, one instance of DrugCoded, CompoundInformation, or NonDrugCoded must be sent. Up to 5 repetitions of ProductCode and DrugDBCode can be included within DrugCoded, or NonDrugCoded. DrugCoded is used exclusively for medications and including an NDC is required. NonDrugCoded is used for non-medication products that may have an NDC, supplies, durable medical equipment and digital therapeutics. If the product has an NDC then it should be included. CompoundInformation is used to send a compound prescription. All active ingredients must be included and inactive ingredients may be included. S.208: Codified values within a message shall not conflict with the related textual concept.
NDC	conditional	Mandatory when sending DrugCoded, optional when sending NonDrugCoded. If a product has an NDC it is recommended to include it. business rule The NDC must be a valid 11 digit code. See NDC Best PracticesNDC Best Practices for more information.
Strength/ StrengthForm	conditional
Code	mandatory	business rule Must be a valid FMT/NCI code. See Codified Field Usage for Federal Medication Terminologies (FMT) CodesCodified for details.
Strength/ StrengthUnitOfMeasure	conditional
Code	mandatory	business rule Must be a valid FMT/NCI code. See Codified Field Usage for Federal Medication Terminologies (FMT) CodesCodifiedfor details.
DEASchedule	conditional	business rule Must be a valid FMT/NCI code. See Codified Field Usage for Federal Medication Terminologies (FMT) CodesCodifiedfor details. For fillable messages, if the medication is categorized as a controlled substance by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) or the state, this field must be sent. R.308: When sending a compound with one or more controlled substance ingredients, the message shall contain one of the following: either the CompoundIngredient/DEASchedule for each controlled substance in the CompoundIngredient element or the DEA schedule of the most restrictive ingredient in the DrugCoded/DEASchedule or NonDrugCoded/DEASchedule element.
Quantity	mandatory
Value	mandatory	business rule If the drug Quantity Value uses a decimal, there must be at least one digit to the left and the right of the decimal point; the numbers to the right of the decimals cannot be all zeros, and, if there is more than one digit to the left of the decimal point, they cannot be all zeros. For NewRx, a quantity value of "0" (zero) indicates an open order used in LTPAC systems.
CodeListQualifier	mandatory	business rule For NewRx: - If Quantity/Value is greater than "0" (zero), then Quantity/CodeListQualifier must be "38". For NewRx in LTPAC - If Quantity/Value = "0" (zero), then Quantity/CodeListQualifier must be "QS" or "CF" (for compound) and must have Long Term Care service level enabled. For Compounds: The MedicationPrescribed/Quantity/CodeListQualifier must be "CF" (Compound Final Quantity). This also applies to the MedicationDispensed, MedicationRequested, and MedicationResponse structures. The value "38" is applicable in the Quantity element of the CompoundInformation structure. Quantity/Value = "0" only applies to LTPAC.
QuanityUnitOfMeasure/ Code	mandatory	business rule Must be a valid FMT/NCI code. See Codified Field Usage for Federal Medication Terminologies (FMT) CodesCodified for details.
DaysSupply	conditional	business rule This element is optional. When sent, DaysSupply element must be a whole number and not contain a decimal point. When using the structured sig elements, duration of therapy can be conveyed in the TimingAndDuration elements.
WrittenDate	conditional	business rule The WrittenDate must not be a future date and should be sent in DateTime to accommodate for any time zone conversion issues that may occur. This element usage is dependent on message type. See schema for element requirements.
DrugUseEvaluation	conditional	DrugUseEvaluation details can be included for a number of interactions including drug to allergy, drug to condition, drug to drug and duplicate drugs. In addition to including the ServiceReasonCode, it is recommended to include additional details such as the ProfessionalServiceCode and ClinicalSignificanceCode.
AcknowledgementReason	conditional	business rule A DrugUseEvaluation Acknowledgement Reason must be sent when the Professional Service is equal to "ZZ".
Substitutions	mandatory	It is important that proper product/service substitution codes be used on e-prescriptions. Prescriber application vendors should ensure that their applications guide users to insert the proper codes that accurately express their wishes with respect to substitution.
NumberOfRefills	conditional	Quantity for the number of refills. When sending an open order, the NumberOfRefills quantity should be set to 99.
Sig	conditional	This element usage is dependent on message type. Sig contains either completely free text with no corresponding structured content or is a generated structured Sig that contains all the elements semantically captured by and corresponding to the codified elements and clarifying free text fields. business rule The SigText value for NewRx transactions must meet a fundamental level of safety and quality defined by Surescripts. Examples of unsafe and poor quality SigText values include: SigText contains only one character or contains only special characters. Examples: "1", "--", "." SigText is missing multiple key elements, such as dose, route, or frequency. Examples: "oral", "once", "IM", "n/a", "po" SigText contains conflicting directions. Example: "Take 1 capsule by mouth twice a day once daily."
SigText	mandatory	If you cannot fully represent the content of the prescriber’s intended directions in the structured Sig only populate the free text. See SigText Field Best PracticesSigText Field Best Practices section. Patient instructions should not be split between the SigText and Notes fields as this can result in an incorrect interpretation by the pharmacy staff of the prescriber’s preferred patient instructions which may result in negative therapeutic outcomes and/or patient harm. Sigs should not be truncated because important information can be lost.
(StructuredSig Elements)	conditional	Structured elements supporting the SigText Codified information, the codes and their textual representations are required to semantically match with the string in the SigText. Reference: NCPDP SCRIPT Structured and Codified Sig Format Implementation Guide
OrderCaptureMethod	conditional	Identifies how the order is captured; entered by a prescriber, a telephone order (where PrescriberAgent info should be sent), a verbal order (where PrescriberAgent information should be sent) or written (when NO PrescriberAgent information should be sent).
PatientCodifiedNote	conditional
PatientCodified NoteQualifier	conditional	Codified note specific to patient or medication being prescribed.
PatientCodified NoteValue	conditional	When the PatientCodifiedNoteQualifier of AA or AB is sent Value can also be sent to provide quantification of the qualifier.
OtherMedicationDate	conditional
OtherMedication DateQualifier	conditional	Qualification of Date/Time field. Example Qualifiers: SoldDate is only allowed to be used in RxFill Notification, and RxRenewalRequest messages. EffectiveDate (Begin) - Used for earliest fill date. The date or date/time (now or in the future) after which this prescription being transmitted can be dispensed (i.e., do not fill before date) as authorized by the prescriber. Exception: Electronic prescriptions for patients receiving LTPAC Pharmacy Services are exempt from the EffectiveDate usage stated above.