NEW YORK, August 13, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Last
week during the NCPDP Joint Technical Work Group Meetings, NCPDP
members voted to approve a BETA version of the NCPDP Real-Time
Prescription Benefit (RTPB) Standard. The vote to approve the BETA
version of the Standard passed without opposition, signaling strong
support for the Standard from across the industry, with
representation from all industry stakeholder groups, including
government agencies and industry associations.
The NCPDP Real-Time Prescription Benefit Standard has the
potential to transform the patient-provider experience and speed
time to therapy by making patients' out of pocket prescription
benefit information available to providers at the point of care. It
brings an unprecedented level of transparency and actionable
information to healthcare providers at the point of prescribing – a
critical juncture that can make all the difference in a patient's
adherence to a treatment regimen and health outcomes.
The RTPB Standard was developed using NCPDP's multi-stakeholder,
consensus-building process. It is designed to conform to providers'
existing workflows and support interoperability with real-time,
standardized transactions for the secure exchange of clinical and
administrative healthcare information.
"NCPDP members approved the BETA version to accelerate
development of the standard," explained Lee
Ann Stember, President and CEO of NCPDP. "It's an industry
first for NCPDP – a testament to our ability to think 'outside the
box' as we move forward with development of the standard."
The availability of the BETA version of NCPDP's RTPB Standard
comes at a time when interest in cost transparency and real-time
access to prescription benefit information at the federal level is
at an all-time high. On May 16, 2019,
the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a
final rule mandating that each Part D plan adopt one or more
real-time benefit tools (RTBTs) that are capable of integrating
with at least one prescriber's ePrescribing system or electronic
health record (EHR), no later than January
1, 2021.
The BETA version of the NCPDP Real-Time Prescription Benefit
Standard is available in both XML and EDI formats, the primary
syntaxes used in the pharmacy/healthcare industry.
The BETA version of the Standard will be balloted September 13th through October 28th. Stember
continued, "We want industry to review and use the BETA version and
share comments and feedback when it goes to ballot. At the same
time, we encourage all stakeholders to get involved and participate
in our task group calls as we finalize development of the
Standard."
NCPDP's Real-Time Prescription Benefit Standard Task Group is
open to NCPDP members and non-members. To join, go to
http://dms.ncpdp.org/ to create a free account. Select "MC:
Real-Time Prescription Benefit Standard Task Group" and any other
task groups you want to join. When you click "register" you will be
able to access call times and meeting notes.
About NCPDP
Founded in 1977, NCPDP is a not-for-profit, ANSI-accredited,
Standards Development Organization with more than 1,600 members
representing virtually every sector of the pharmacy services
industry. Our diverse membership provides leadership and healthcare
business solutions through education and standards, created using
the consensus building process. NCPDP has been named in federal
legislation, including HIPAA, MMA, and HITECH. NCPDP members have
created standards such as the Telecommunication Standard and Batch
Standard, the SCRIPT Standard for ePrescribing, the Manufacturers
Rebate Standard and more to improve communication within the
pharmacy industry. Our data products include dataQ®, a robust
database of information on more than 80,000 pharmacies, resQ™, an
industry pharmacy credentialing resource, and HCIdea®, an
innovative prescriber database that provides continually updated
information on more than 2.5 million prescribers. NCPDP's RxReconn®
is a legislative tracking product for real-time monitoring of
pharmacy-related state and national legislative and regulatory
activity. For more information about NCPDP Standards, Data
Services, Products, Educational Programs and Work Group meetings,
go online at http://www.ncpdp.org or call 480.477.1000.
SOURCE NCPDP