Bridging the Gap Between Pharmacy Drug Dictionaries and Barcode Scanning

A source of frustration for the nursing staff is when the bedside scanning system cannot identify the medication from the data in the medication's barcode. Inaccurate error messages lead to "work-arounds" which put patients at risk. The issue is that not all medication barcodes are created equal. They may contain more information than just the FDA's 10-digit NDC number, such as lot numbers, expiration dates and other manufacture data. This information can change regularly.

In order for accurate bedside scanning to take place, drug dictionaries must be built and properly maintained to correctly identify medications in the bedside scanning system. NDC Translator is the bridge between the barcode scanner and the bedside scanning system. It will save you hundreds of hours setting up and maintaining your hospital's drug dictionary.

For a medication to be correctly identified during the bedside scanning process, the "ever-changing data" in the barcode must always be entered into the bedside scanning system. When scanning a drug manufacture's barcode, NDC Translator evaluates the data for the presence of an NDC number. If it finds one, the scanner outputs the 11-digit NDC number which is a standard component of a bedside scanning system's drug dictionary.

History behind NDC numbers

The National Drug Code (NDC Number), is a unique 10-digit identification number, assigned by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to all prescription medications. This number is the only mandated component of the medication's linear barcode.

NDC numbers are comprised of three parts;
4 or 5 digit manufacturer identification number
3 or 4 digit product ID made by the manufacturer
1 or 2 digit product container size code

For example:
Plavix FDA issued NDC number: 63653-1171-1
1171 = Plavix 75mg product ID
1 = container size code

Because of the variations that can exist in each part of the NDC number, three possible 10 digit number sequences are produced.

1234 -1234 -12
12345 -123 -12
12345 -1234 -1

The variations in formatting came about because the FDA ran out of four digit manufacturers ID numbers. To maintain the original 10 digit length, the FDA lets the manufacturer choose to shorten the product ID or container size code by one character. The health care industry has standardized to the 5-4-2 format by adding a zero into the part of the 10 digit NDC that does not match a full 5-4-2 sequence. To demonstrate this point, below is what the new sequences look like:

1234 -1234 -12 01234 -1234 -12
12345 -123 -12 12345 - 0123 -12
12345 -1234 -1 12345 -1234 - 01

NDC Translator can output the 10 or 11 digit NDC number with or without dashes.

Hospitals across the country are working toward having an eMAR and bedside scanning system. NDC Translator is the bridge between the barcode scanner and the bedside scanning system. It will save you hundreds of hours setting up and maintaining your hospital's many drug dictionaries.

For over 15 years RxScan has been providing healthcare facilities with solutions to assist in the preparation, administration and dispensing of medications. Our products are used across the entire country including Puerto Rico. Over the past several years, we conservatively estimate that several billion medications have been scanned using our solutions.

Thank you for reading about NDC Translator Software. RxScan has been providing pharmacies around the country with their barcode expertise since 1996. See for yourself! Please click here to request your 30 day license of NDC Translator. For additional information about the solutions we provide, please visit http://www.rxscan.com