Allergies and Intolerances

NCPDP Comments

NCPDP requests ONC add the National Drug Code (NDC). The NDC distinctly identifies the product and is critical for capturing specific drug allergies, including active and inactive ingredients (e.g., dyes, flavorings) as well as reporting of adverse drug events to the FDA. RxNorm does not identify the specific packaged product that was dispensed and would not be as useful in these situations.

Prime Therapeutics Comments on USCDI V3

Prime Therapeutics LLC (Prime) helps people get the medicine they need to feel better and live well. Prime provides total drug management solutions for health plans, employers, and government programs including Medicare and Medicaid. We serve nearly 33 million people and are collectively owned by 19 Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans, subsidiaries or affiliates of those plans.  Prime Therapeutics requests ONC add National Drug Code (NDC) as an identifier for medication allergies.  RXNORM codes do not contain the specificity to identify all the active and inactive ingredients in many cases.

NACDS Comments on USCDI Draft v3

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) requests ONC add the National Drug Code (NDC) as a Vocabulary Standard for the Substance (Medication) Data Element. The NDC distinctly identifies the product and is critical for capturing specific drug allergies including active and inactive ingredients (e.g., dyes, flavorings) as well as reporting of adverse drug events to the FDA. RxNorm does not identify the specific packaged product that was dispensed and would not be as useful in these situations.

NACDS Comments on USCDI Draft v3

NACDS strongly encourages ONC to include the National Drug Code (NDC) in addition to RxNorm as a Vocabulary Standard for the Data Class of Medication. The NDC Code is a HIPAA-named code set and is pervasive in describing specific medications in the ambulatory care setting. The majority of NCPDP standards include the NDC as the primary drug identifier. The NCPDP Telecommunication Standard is used to process over 4.5 billion claims transactions per year, the vast majority of whichrequire only the NDC to be used in identifying the dispensed medication. 1.91 billion prescriptions are sent electronically from prescribers to pharmacies using the NCPDP SCRIPT Standard, where NDCs are almost exclusively used to represent the medication prescribed. Additionally, the industry uses the NDC in other important electronic prescribing transactions to accurately report the specific product in patient medication history, prescription renewals, prescription transfers, prior authorizations, medication changes, product recalls, adverse event reporting, REMS reporting and Real Time Prescription Benefit. RxNorm does not identify the specific packaged product dispensed and would not be as useful in most of these transactions.

NCPDP Comments on USCDI draft V3

NCPDP requests ONC add the National Drug Code (NDC). The NDC distinctly identifies the product and is critical for capturing specific drug allergies including active and inactive ingredients (e.g., dyes, flavorings) as well as reporting of adverse drug events to the FDA. RxNorm does not identify the specific packaged product that was dispensed and would not be as useful in these situations.

NCPDP Comment

NCPDP recommends adding National Drug Code (NDC), which is also used in the NCPDP Telecommunication Standard and SCRIPT standard and is essential for pharmacy billing for payers to capture digital quality metrics.