NCPDP pleased with HHS' adoption of SCRIPT Standard to achieve Meaningful Use

The National Council for Prescription Drug Programs (NCPDP) today acknowledges and applauds the U.S. Health and Human Services Department (HHS) on its Final Rules announcement on "meaningful use" of an Electronic Health Record (EHR), including the adoption of NCPDP SCRIPT Standard for the secure, electronic transmission of prescriptions and prescription-related information.

“We are very pleased with the Final Rule as it relates to ePrescribing and using the NCPDP SCRIPT Standard to achieve Meaningful Use.”

The Final Rule on Standards to meet Meaningful Use announced the NCPDP SCRIPT Standard Implementation Guide Version 8, Release 1 (Version 8.1) October 2005 or NCPDP SCRIPT Standard, Implementation Guide, Version 10.6 can be used. This allows flexibility for those prescribers - eligible practitioners, hospitals, provider associations, state and federal governments, software vendors and more - that already are using the SCRIPT Standard as well as flexibility for implementers.

"The Final Rules will help clinicians achieve better and more effective patient care," stated Lee Ann Stember, President of NCPDP. "We are very pleased with the Final Rule as it relates to ePrescribing and using the NCPDP SCRIPT Standard to achieve Meaningful Use."

The NCPDP SCRIPT Standard was first published in 1997 and has been updated annually based on the business needs identified by the industry. SCRIPT is a standard created to facilitate the transfer of prescription data between pharmacies, prescribers, intermediaries and payers. This standard allows for quick and accurate communication between the prescriber, pharmacist and payer to provide information for the prescriber and pharmacist to make informed decisions with the patient while reducing the potential for medication error.

The Standards and Certification Criteria Final Rule can be accessed at: http://www.ofr.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2010-17210_PI.pdf.