Pharmacologic agents used in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease.

Data Element
Fill Status
Description (*Please confirm or update this field for the new USCDI version*)

State of a medication with regards to dispensing or other activity. (e.g., dispensed, partially dispensed, not dispensed)

Submitted By: Robert C Dieterle / Submitted on behalf of the Da Vinci Project
Data Element Information
Use Case Description(s)
Use Case Description Medication dispense information is the primary information required by payers (in particular PBMs) to authorize payment for medications. It is the only accurate record of the actual medication (e.g. generic) that was dispensed to the patient along with specific administration information. This information is valuable to both patients (as a record of what was submitted for payment) and to providers (to verify that the first essential step in a medication therapy has been followed – acquire the prescribed medication).
Medication dispense information is necessary to confirm appropriate and high quality of care is received for patients across different populations. It is clinically relevant from a care perspective particularly at hospital discharge and during follow-up clinical visits to ensure that the patient is complying with prescribed treatment. Failure to start medication treatment post discharge is the primary cause for hospital readmission.
Estimate the breadth of applicability of the use case(s) for this data element Level 2 – annually 4.38 billion retail prescriptions are dispensed by 88,000 pharmacies in the US. Virtually every provider prescribes medications. A recent survey indicates that 55 percent of Americans regularly take medications. Dispense information is collected, accessed and used by Pharmacies, Payers and, where available, by providers.
Healthcare Aims
  • Improving patient experience of care (quality and/or satisfaction)
  • Improving the health of populations
  • Reducing the cost of care
  • Improving provider experience of care
Maturity of Use and Technical Specifications for Data Element
Applicable Standard(s) RxNorm
Additional Specifications HL7 FHIR QI Core Implementation Guide STU4 based on FHIR R4 http://hl7.org/fhir/us/qicore/StructureDefinition-qicore-medicationdispense.html
HL7 C-CDA Release 2.0 (http://www.hl7.org/implement/standards/product_brief.cfm?product_id=492)
ePrescribing NCPDP SCRIPT Standard Implementation Guide Version 2017071
HL7 Da Vinci Payer Data Exchange FHIR Implementation Guide https://build.fhir.org/ig/HL7/davinci-epdx
Current Use This data element has been used at scale between multiple different production environments to support the majority of anticipated stakeholders
Supporting Artifacts Level 2 – this information is routinely collected by all dispensing pharmacies and healthcare insurers. Annually 4.38 billion retail prescriptions are dispensed by 88,000 pharmacies in the us. E-prescribing applications can make this information available to the prescribing provider. (see NCPDP Script)
Extent of exchange 5 or more. This data element has been tested at scale between multiple different production environments to support the majority of anticipated stakeholders.
Supporting Artifacts Medication data is also routinely electronically exchanged with external organizations via C-CDA, as part of ONC’s CEHRT criteria, and a part of data exchange for electronic prescribing to support the continuum of care, particularly with prescribers, dispensers, intermediaries, and post-acute care settings. https://ecqi.healthit.gov/qrda http://www.hl7.org/implement/standards/product_brief.cfm?product_id=7 https://www.healthit.gov/isa/section/electronic-prescribing https://confluence.hl7.org/display/FHIR/2020-09+Clinical+Reasoning
https://ecqi.healthit.gov/qrda
Potential Challenges
Restrictions on Standardization (e.g. proprietary code) No challenges anticipated. This data is available in standard terminology that can be publicly accessed via the VSAC and HL7.
Restrictions on Use (e.g. licensing, user fees) None
Privacy and Security Concerns This data, like any patient data should be exchanged securely. Current processes exist, governed by CMS and ONC, to securely transfer this data.
Estimate of Overall Burden Medication dispense data is regularly captured in pharmacy, PBM, and payer systems. Since medication information is part of the clinical record for Payers that are covered under the CMS Interoperability Final Rule, MedicationDispense FHIR profiles will be used to make these medications available through the Patient Access API. There should be little or no additional work to make the same information available to providers. The EHR vendors will need to consume the dispense information and incorporate it into the patient’s record.

Comment

Submitted by pwilson@ncpdp.org on

NCPDP Comment

NCPDP recommends changing the data element name from “Fill Status” to “Dispensing Status” to align with the use case in the submission on behalf of the DaVinci Project. NCPDP standards use the term “Dispensing Status,” and the code values are:

VALUE     DESCRIPTION

P               Partial Fill - A dispensing of less than the prescribed quantity, the balance of which will be dispensed at a later time.

C               Completion of Partial Fill - Dispensing the remaining quantity of a prescription when the entire amount could not be supplied at the original dispensing.

 

The 4.38 billion retail prescriptions referenced in the use case are referring to the prescriptions which use the NCPDP Standards.

Submitted by nedragarrett_CDC on

CDC's comment on behalf of CSTE for USCDI v4

CSTE agrees with CDC. Medication data is critical for exchange with public health and is included in eCR standards. It is especially important for STI programs, HIV and TB surveillance as well as for public health response and surveillance for antimicrobial resistant pathogen infections. 

Submitted by nedragarrett_CDC on

CDC's Consolidated Comment

  • Useful for other HHS programs (e.g., those involved in COVID therapeutics).

CSTE Comment:

  • Medication data is critical for exchange with public health and is included in eCR standards. It is especially important for STI programs, HIV and TB surveillance as well as for public health response and surveillance for antimicrobial resistant pathogen infections.

Joint CDC-CMS Priority data element

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