IntelliDOT Corporation, a leading provider of handheld, barcode point-of-care (BPOC) solutions to hospitals, today announced that IntelliDOT Bedside Medication Administration™ (IntelliDOT BMA™) now enables hospitals to comply with the CMS requirement to report National Drug Code (NDC) numbers for drugs administered in outpatient settings.
"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," said David Swenson, RPh and Chief Clinical Officer at IntelliDOT. The rule went into effect after June 30, 2008 (April 1, 2009 for California). "This could end up costing hospitals a significant amount of money per year in lost reimbursements."
The 1991 Medicaid Drug Rebate Program requires drug manufacturers to enter agreements with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and provide rebates for their products paid for by Medicaid. The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 further required states to collect drug data in order to expand the program to include drugs dispensed in outpatient settings. In 2007, CMS decided to use NDC numbers to correctly identify the drug and manufacturer, as a way to maximize rebates.
"A barcode scanning system is the only realistic way to collect this data," said Paul Seelinger, RPh and Sr. Director of Clinical Operations at 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."
By implementing IntelliDOT BMA in outpatient areas like ER or Radiology, hospitals can achieve 100 percent NDC billing compliance. Upon admittance, each patient is issued a wristband with a unique identifying barcode. All drug packages are also barcoded and those barcodes and corresponding NDCs are stored in the IntelliDOT System drug master file. Before medication is administered, the nurse simply scans the patient's wristband with one of IntelliDOT's wireless handheld devices and then scans the medication.
The scan of the medication barcode identifies the exact brand of the medication and the amount being given. The patient information and barcode are sent wirelessly to the IntelliDOT server. The server looks up the barcode's associated NDC number and includes it in the HL7 DFT billing message sent to the pharmacy information system (or any other system that handles the hospital's medication billing).
"The drug master in the IntelliDOT System supports a many-to-one relationship between multiple brands of that medication stocked by the pharmacy and the individual formulary line item," said Swenson. "For example, IntelliDOT BMA can accommodate several different brands of ibuprofen, including generics, and the individual barcodes associated with each brand. In turn, we can associate the corresponding NDC with every unique medication barcode."
An automatic update feature included in IntelliDOT BMA ensures that NDCs are kept up-to-date in the drug master database.
"Hospital leaders tell us their current pharmacy and billing systems cannot capture the NDC," said Seelinger. "The IntelliDOT System drug master was designed by pharmacists, which accounts for our preparedness for this requirement. It is the only system today that can meet all of a hospital's CMS billing requirements for NDC compliance."
The IntelliDOT System is a best-of-breed wireless, workflow manager that connects caregivers with the information systems they need at the point-of-care. Designed by nurses for nurses, the IntelliDOT System enables clinicians to perform safety checks and safely administer and document medications at the bedside using a lightweight, handheld device. The IntelliDOT System satisfies Joint Commission standards for patient identification and assures accuracy by verifying the five rights of medication administration: right medication, right dose, right route, right patient, right time; as well as ensuring required follow-up documentation, such as pain scale, is performed in a timely manner and accurately recorded.
About IntelliDOT® Corporation
IntelliDOT is a leading provider of wireless, handheld, barcode point-of-care (BPOC) solutions that connect to any healthcare information system to improve patient safety and nurse workflow. When using the IntelliDOT System, nurses can easily manage all tasks associated with five rights medication administration safety checks and related documentation. Additional modules that run on the same handheld device include: IntelliDOT Phlebotomy Specimen Collection™, IntelliDOT Blood Product Administration™, IntelliDOT Mother-Baby Breast Milk Matching™, and IntelliDOT Vital Signs Collection™. More information can be found at http://www.intellidotcorp.com
