The National Council for Prescription Drug Programs, a not-for-profit pharmacy standards development organization, has released a recap of its 2011 accomplishments.
"We made tremendous progress in 2011, moving patient safety initiatives forward and enhancing interoperability and collaboration across healthcare," said Lee Ann Stember, president of NCPDP. NCPDP's accomplished the following in 2011:
1. Explored evolving industry needs for electronic prior authorizations: NCPDP reconvened its ePA Task Group in 2011 to evaluate the use of existing ePA transactions, pilot efforts and assess industry needs that have expanded with advances in medication therapy management, biotechnology, designer drugs and other factors. The ePA Task Group will work to develop a flexible, industry-wide standard for the exchange of ePA data.
2. Developed new standards for medication therapy management: Pharmacist-administered MTM programs have been proven to boost medication adherence and patient engagement, prevent medication errors and decrease healthcare costs. NCPDP developed new MTM transactions to increase the accuracy of service requests and pharmacist documentation of MTM services.
3. Enhanced SCRIPT standard to enable e-prescribing of controlled substances: In 2011 NCPDP released an enhancement to the SCRIPT standard, a core requirement of meaningful use, to enable e-prescribing of controlled substances. The SCRIPT and other NCPDP e-prescribing standards are designed to improve patient safety and better assist providers.
To view a full list of NCPDP's 2011 accomplishments, click here.
"We made tremendous progress in 2011, moving patient safety initiatives forward and enhancing interoperability and collaboration across healthcare," said Lee Ann Stember, president of NCPDP. NCPDP's accomplished the following in 2011:
1. Explored evolving industry needs for electronic prior authorizations: NCPDP reconvened its ePA Task Group in 2011 to evaluate the use of existing ePA transactions, pilot efforts and assess industry needs that have expanded with advances in medication therapy management, biotechnology, designer drugs and other factors. The ePA Task Group will work to develop a flexible, industry-wide standard for the exchange of ePA data.
2. Developed new standards for medication therapy management: Pharmacist-administered MTM programs have been proven to boost medication adherence and patient engagement, prevent medication errors and decrease healthcare costs. NCPDP developed new MTM transactions to increase the accuracy of service requests and pharmacist documentation of MTM services.
3. Enhanced SCRIPT standard to enable e-prescribing of controlled substances: In 2011 NCPDP released an enhancement to the SCRIPT standard, a core requirement of meaningful use, to enable e-prescribing of controlled substances. The SCRIPT and other NCPDP e-prescribing standards are designed to improve patient safety and better assist providers.
To view a full list of NCPDP's 2011 accomplishments, click here.
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