First Databank (FDB) Releases Enhanced Drug Knowledge to Support Interoperable Medication Management

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--First Databank (FDB), the leading provider of clinical drug knowledge that helps improve medication-related decisions and patient outcomes, announces the release of a broad range of cross references within the FDB Interoperability Module. This module now offers a full range of interoperable cross references between FDB clinical drug knowledge and standardized medication vocabularies designed to support the portability of patient medication, immunization, and allergy history between disparate health information systems to meet the demands for electronic health information sharing.

“With the escalating and more stringent medication interoperability requirements now set forth by the federal government, our customers are rapidly deploying the full range of drug knowledge and cross references provided within the FDB Interoperability Module”

Interoperable drug knowledge is vitally important to electronic health record (EHR) adoption and effective use. The extension of FDB MedKnowledge™ to standardized vocabularies is essential for organizations striving to meet the increased vocabulary interoperability requirements set forth in the federal government’s EHR Certification 2014 Edition Criteria (also known as Meaningful Use Stage 2). Use of interoperable drug knowledge enables electronic prescribing, the calculation of clinical quality measures, and the exchange of patient medications, medication allergies, and immunizations. Interoperable drug knowledge also enables compliance with Medicare Part D formulary submissions to CMS and streamlines clinical information reconciliation.

The FDB Interoperability Module facilitates the translation between:

FDB medication concepts to external vocabularies’ active medication lists such as the National Library of Medicine’s RxNorm and the Centers for Disease Control CVX and MVX codes specified for use in immunization registry reporting.
FDB allergy medication concepts to named allergy vocabulary standards, such as the National Library of Medicine's RxNorm and the Veterans Affairs (VA) National Drug File Reference Terminology (VA NDF-RT). SNOMED CT value sets have been deployed to support advanced allergy and intolerance documentation of foods, environmental agents, reactions, severity, and allergy type.
FDB MedKnowledge disease identifiers to SNOMED CT clinical findings, supporting the use of patient problem lists for decision support (to be offered in a future release).

“With the escalating and more stringent medication interoperability requirements now set forth by the federal government, our customers are rapidly deploying the full range of drug knowledge and cross references provided within the FDB Interoperability Module,” said George Robinson, RPh, senior product manager, FDB. “By offering this essential content in one convenient source, we are pleased to support their delivery of meaningful use-compliant systems to end user clinicians.”

About First Databank (FDB)

FDB provides drug knowledge that helps healthcare professionals make precise medication-related decisions. With thousands of customers worldwide, FDB enables our information system developer partners to deliver a wide range of valuable, useful, and differentiated solutions. As the company that virtually launched the medication decision support category, we offer more than three decades of experience in transforming drug knowledge into actionable, targeted, and effective solutions that improve patient safety and healthcare outcomes.