First DataBank today announced the v3.2 release of its Drug Information Framework™, a suite of software components for integrating drug information content into virtually any healthcare environment. This software enables information system developers to encapsulate First DataBank's NDDF Plus™ knowledge base into end-user healthcare information systems quickly and economically. It helps developers shorten product lead times and make more efficient use of scarce resources, for information system applications designed for hospitals, retail pharmacies, physician clinics, claims processors, pharmacy benefit managers and many others. The new release provides enhanced functionality throughout the Drug Information Framework, from inactive drug ingredient screening to Tall Man lettering to help reduce medication errors.

According to Product Manager Lisa Geller, "Time to market can be critical to the success of next-generation drug information products. That's why it's essential for developers to use the most powerful content-integration software available—the Drug Information Framework." The new release boosts this software's capabilities in numerous ways, plus it can significantly enhance developer productivity, she said.

The new Drug Information Framework upgrade, Geller noted, will enhance customer use of the product in at least four areas. She outlined these as:
• Inactive Ingredient Screening: Functionality has been added for screening inactive (or “inert”) drug ingredients, to detect potential drug-allergy reactions and drug-interaction problems with inactives.
• Pre-defined Allergen Pick Lists: Another important allergy screening capability added to the software is generation of pre-defined pick lists. This results in a list of important brand Med Names, allergen groups and individual ingredients (without salts), for use in patient allergy profiling. These pick lists—maintained by First DataBank—eliminate the need for healthcare facilities to create and maintain their own lists of allergens for profiling.
• Tall Man Plus™: The new upgrade incorporates “tall-man” drug identification data, to help medical professionals visually distinguish look-alike, sound-alike medication names. Potential problem drug names are selected based on recommendations made by various public and private organizations, including MedWatch and the Medication Error Reporting Program. In addition, First DataBank lists additional potential problem drug-name pairs, based on internal review and experience.
• JCAHO-compliant Data Items: Changes in data items have been made in order to help comply with the requirements of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP). They affect the use of abbreviations, dosing expressions, drug acronyms, stemmed drug names and symbols. These changes will facilitate efforts by healthcare organizations seeking JCAHO accreditation and ISMP compliance.

"This new version of the Drug Information Framework adds a number of features essential to support customer efforts to improve healthcare quality and enhance patient safety—within an already successful product," said David Manin, Director of Marketing. This extends the product's potential for use in next-generation systems that rely on First DataBank's proven drug information, he explained, enabling developers to respond more rapidly to the needs of emerging markets.

First DataBank, a subsidiary of The Hearst Corporation, is the leading provider of electronic drug information to the healthcare industry. We pioneered the concept of creating executable drug knowledge that’s designed to be relevant from the perspectives of multiple end users. For more than two decades, we’ve partnered with information system developers to deliver proven knowledge bases for integration into a wide range of applications all across the healthcare continuum, with particular expertise in clinical decision support within the workflow. Together with our development partners, First DataBank helps reduce the incidence of medication errors and adverse drug events, which promises to lower healthcare costs and improve patient care.

Lisa Geller, Product Manager
(650) 246-2890
Lisa_Geller@firstdatabank.com

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