RxNorm

Implementation – Write about targets and users of the standard – provide examples of use cases and discuss how it is used and cite your discussions. Give an example that this standard helped researchers to solve a problem.

Part of the Implementation I have already worked on:
Implementation:
RxNorm is used to navigate between names and codes among drug vocabularies, exchanging standard RxNorm names and codes, and using information available within RxNorm to assist with medication-related clinical decision support (Nelson, Zeng, Kilbourne, Powell & Moore, 2011). An example of the many targets and users of this standard include the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Health Administration. The National Drug File Reference Terminology (NDF-RT), which helps organize the drug list into a conventional representation, was integrated into RxNorm and has provided RxNorm with an additional type of information for the VA. In addition to the VA, The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recommend RxNorm as a preferred substitute to the NDC identifier scheme for use as a standardized terminology system in e-prescribing, because it more closely approximates an “ideal” system of drug identifiers (Dhavle, Ward-Charlerie, Rupp, Kilbourne, Amin, & Ruiz, J. 2015). Additional examples where RxNorm has helped researchers solve issues include the creation of electronic medical records (EMR), automated decision support, quality assurance, healthcare research, reimbursement, and mandatory reporting. In addition, RxNorm assists patients when they are documenting for their personal record and can not remember the strength, or dose of that medication. Furthermore, RxNorm names and codes are used to represent medication names in the Continuity of Care Document (CCD). In result to RxNorm implementations recent inclusion of NDF-RT within RxNorm has made more sophisticated decision support possible. With the drug classification information, medications can be organized into categories and thus what may be duplicate drug therapies within the same class can be identified (Dhavle, Ward-Charlerie, Rupp, Kilbourne, Amin, & Ruiz, J. 2015).

SURVIVAL:
RxNorm has brought many benefits to the healthcare industry. Now, healthcare organizations can have clear communication about drug regardless of the electronic health record system they may be using. The interoperability is very important, so it can be accessed across different software and hardware the names are consistent and don’t have one name here and across somewhere else in the same application but have five other names. The standard has both brand name and generic names so locating the medication will not be complicated. RxNorm also provides links to drug components so it is readily available all in one place. RxNorm is structured and labeled by terms like ingredient, strength, dose form and brand name. This can be useful to patients so that they can read what’s in the drug, careful not to under or overdose, how the drug can be taken (ex. Oral or topical) will be able to locate the drugs by brand name.