New alchemy module allows healthcare providers to verify, comply with state and federal prescription drug regulations

Aug 27 2010

Gold Standard/Elsevier, developer of drug databases and medication management solutions, announced today the availability of its new Alchemy.

The Alchemy State and Federal module will help providers comply with 41 state-mandated Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs) ( http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/faq/rx_monitor.htm) and federal regulations, while also controlling increasingly widespread prescription drug abuse. Substance Abuse Treatment Admissions Involving Abuse of Pain Relievers: 1998-2008 , ( http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/news/press10/071510.html) a July 2010 White House study, reported a 400 percent increase in substance abuse treatment admissions for prescription pain relievers between 1998 and 2008.

"Alchemy State and Federal delivers rapid, reliable answers for informed prescribing and dispensing and protects against illegal transmission of electronic prescriptions by identifying differences between federal and state Drug Enforcement Administration information," said Marianne Messer, President of Gold Standard. "Through this new module, the only one of its kind on the market today, we take another big step in supporting the many providers whose quest it is to reduce prescription medication misuse and alleviate clinical and financial risks to millions of patients."

Many pharmacy companies face difficulties in complying with their state PDMPs due to variances caused by conflicting state and federal rules. Some state PDMPs have even added drugs excluded from federal regulations. Alchemy State and Federal controlled substance drug schedule offers a solution by allowing pharmacists to identify and track the growing list of drugs unique to each state's list of reportable substances.

Alchemy State and Federal supplies a drug's state-specific legend status and DEA classification for those instances when state regulations are more restrictive than federal regulations. Drugs are identified by state, classification ID, National Drug Code (NDC), and start/end date. To ensure timeliness of database information, Gold Standard monitors materials such as the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy's (https://www.nabp.org/) Survey of Pharmacy Law and state board of pharmacy newsletters.

In addition to controlled substance drug schedules, the Alchemy State and Federal module provides data to support compliance with FDA guidelines for consumer medication information (CMI), including: MedGuide flags and associated MedGuides, Patient Package Insert (PPI) flags with mandatory or permissive indicators, Black Box flags with codified reasons, and REMs flags with codified descriptions that are unique to Alchemy.

"Using advanced technologies, Alchemy State and Federal incorporates emerging industry standards and delivers alerts on pending regulatory changes more rapidly and effectively than any other drug database on the market. We are continuously upgrading Alchemy by keeping our product development and customer service highly responsive to the needs of our clients, ensuring the most agile and innovative drug database and decision support resource," Messer said.

Learn more about Alchemy State and Federal by joining representatives from Gold Standard (booth #514) at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores' Pharmacy and Technology Conference (NACDS), Aug. 28-31, 2010, in San Diego, California.