Hospitals looking to comply with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' new requirement to report National Drug Code numbers for drugs administered in outpatient settings will be getting a big boost from IntelliDOT.
The San Diego-based developer of handheld, barcode point-of-care solutions for hospitals has unveiled a new solution to its Bedside Medication Administration (BMA) tool, allowing hospitals to automatically enter and store NDC numbers.
"A barcode scanning system is the only realistic way to collect this data," said Paul Seelinger, senior director of clinical operations for IntelliDOT. "Many hospitals do not have these systems in place. Manually entering NDC numbers is a difficult, time-consuming process. Our solution is cost-effective, field-proven and can be implemented in a matter of weeks."
The 1991 Medicaid Drug Rebate Program required drug manufacturers to forge agreements with CMS and provide rebates for products financed by Medicaid. In 2005, the Deficit Reduction Act expanded that rule by compelling states to collect drug data and include drugs dispensed in outpatient settings. NDC numbers were identified in 2007 as a way to maximize rebates and correctly identify both drug and manufacturer.
CMS made the NDC numbers mandatory on June 30, 2008 (April 1, 2009 in California).
"Any CMS 1500 claims for medications administered in outpatient settings will be denied if they do not include the NDC and Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System code," pointed out David Swenson, IntelliDOT's chief clinical officer. "This could end up costing hospitals a significant amount of money per year in lost reimbursements."
Company officials say IntelliDOT's BMA, implemented in emergency rooms, radiology departments and other areas of the hospital, stores all NDCs in the IntelliDOT System drug master file. Each patient and drug in the hospital is also issued a unique barcode, which is entered into the database. Before any drug is administered, a nurse scans the barcodes on both the patient's wristband and the medication with an IntelliDOT wireless handheld device.
Information sent to the IntelliDOT System is included in HL7 DFT billing messages, which are sent to a hospital's pharmacy information system and any other billing system. The information can also be used to record the exact brand and amount of medication that a patient is given.
